“Renaissance, indeed; but the Renaissance of 1876! It is truly modern art, yet endowed with the qualities of eternal art!” – Paul Dubois

Born in Nogent-sur-Seine in 1829, Paul Dubois was initially destined for a legal career before following his artistic vocation. After studying in the private studio of Armand Toussaint and later at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1858, he spent four years in Italy, where in Florence he encountered the legacy of Renaissance sculpture. The influence of Michelangelo, Donatello, and Florentine funerary art left a profound mark on his vision of statuary, which he shaped into a form of classical Neo-Humanism imbued with spirituality and formal balance.

He made his Salon debut in 1857 under the name Dubois-Pigalle, in homage to his great-uncle, the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. His first major public success came with St. John the Baptist as a Child (1864), followed by the celebrated Florentine Singer (1865). Both works were widely reproduced, establishing his reputation. Over the years, Dubois received numerous prestigious public commissions, including the Cenotaph of General de Lamoricière (1865–1879), Jeanne d’Arc in Reims (1895), the Constable of Montmorency (1886), as well as busts of eminent figures such as Pasteur, Bizet, Saint-Saëns, and the Duke of Aumale.

His participation in the Universal Exhibitions earned him international acclaim. In 1874, he was appointed deputy curator of the Musée du Luxembourg, elected a member of the Institut in 1876, and, in 1878, succeeded Eugène Guillaume as Director of the École des Beaux-Arts. From 1880 onward, he also exhibited as a painter, developing a growing interest in the human figure and in classically inspired compositions.

Dubois died in Paris in May 1905, leaving behind a body of work marked by dignity, contemplation, and sculptural beauty, at the crossroads of French academic tradition and the great Italian models. Today, his hometown houses the Musée Camille Claudel (formerly the Musée Dubois-Boucher), which preserves one of the finest collections of his works.