Pigalle was born in
Paris, the seventh child of a carpenter. Although he failed to obtain the
Prix de Rome, after a severe struggle he entered the
Académie Royale and became one of the most popular sculptors of his day. His earlier work, such as
Child with Cage (model at
Sèvres) and
Mercury Fastening his Sandals (
Berlin, and lead cast in
Louvre), is less commonplace than that of his more mature years, but his nude statue of
Voltaire, dated 1776 (initially in the
Institut de France, purchased by the Louvre in 1962), and his tombs of
Comte d'Harcourt (c. 1764) (
Notre-Dame de Paris) and of
Marshal Saxe, completed in 1777 (Saint-Thomas Lutheran church,
Strasbourg), are good examples of French
sculpture in the 18th century. Pigalle taught the sculptor
Louis-Philippe Mouchy, who married his niece, and who closely copied Pigalle's style. He is also said to have taught the painter
Madeleine-Élisabeth Pigalle, believed to be a distant relative from
Sens. His name is most commonly known today because of the
Pigalle red-light district in
Paris, located around the square of the same name,
Place Pigalle. Pigalle died in Paris on 20 August 1785. ==Monumental works==