Ernest Christophe

Ernest Christophe
Photograph of Christophe by Nadar
Born	Ernest Louis Aquilas Christophe 15 January 1827 Loches, Indre-et-Loire, France
Died	14 January 1892 17th arrondissement of Paris, France
Resting place	Batignolles Cemetery 48°53′49″N 2°18′50″E / 48.897°N 2.314°E / 48.897; 2.314
Nationality	French
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	The Human Comedy

Ernest Louis Aquilas Christophe (15 January 1827 – 14 January 1892) was a French sculptor, a student of François Rude and a friend of Charles Baudelaire.^[1] Rude assigned him to help with the bronze recumbent effigy to Éléonore-Louis Godefroi Cavaignac, a French politician. The funerary monument is signed Rude et Christophe, son jeune élève (Rude and Cristophe, his young pupil).^[1][2] His Le Masque (the Mask) sculpture won Christophe third place in the Paris Salon in 1876 and two of his sculptures, La Fatalité (Fatality) and Le Baiser suprême (The supreme kiss) were acquired by the Musée du Luxembourg.^[1]

Christophe developed a deep friendship with Cuban-born French poet José-Maria de Heredia and made him his testamentary legatee. De Heredia collected part of Ernest's library after his death.^[3] He is buried in the Batignolles Cemetery.^[1]