Lambert-Sigisbert Adam

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Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (October 10, 1700 – May 12, 1759), French sculptor, known as Adam l’aîné ("the elder"), was born in Nancy, son of sculptor Jacob-Sigisbert Adam.

Adam was thirty-seven when, on his election to the Academy, he exhibited at the Salon the model of the group of Neptune and Amphitrite for the centre of the fountain at Versailles, and thereafter found much employment in the decoration of the royal residences.

Among his more important works are:

• Nymphs and Tritons
• The Triumph of Neptune stilling the Waves
• Hunter with Lion in his Net, a relief for the chapel of St Adelaide
• The Seine and the Marne in stone for Saint-Cloud
• Hunting and Fishing, marble groups for Sanssouci
• Mars embraced by Love
• The enthusiasm of Poetry

Adam restored with much ability the twelve statues (Lycomedes) found in the so-called Villa of Marius at Rome, and was elected a member of the Roman artists' guild, the Accademia di San Luca. Several of his most important works were executed for Frederick the Great in Prussia.

He had two brothers, also sculptors: Nicolas-Sébastien Adam, known as "Adam le jeune" ("the younger"), and François-Gaspard-Balthazar Adam.

The work of the brothers Adam was too ornate in style to win the approval of the school that immediately followed them, and found its principal opponents in Bouchardon and Pigalle.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.