The sculpture was commissioned by
François I, executed in Cellini's workshop at the Hôtel de Nesle (adjacent to the
Tour de Nesle) in Paris, sculpted with the help of Thomas Dambry,
Pierre Bontemps and Laurent Mailleu, and assembled with the help of
foundrymen Pierre Villain and Guillaume Saligot. where the nymph became identified with
Diana, the goddess of the hunt, representing the owner of the château,
Diane de Poitiers, and the stag with her lover
Henri II of France. The relief was seized on 23 March 1794, at the time of the
French Revolution, and moved from Anet to the Nesle depot. On 23 February 1796, the Conservatoire des Arts decided it should be moved to the small courtyard of the
Louvre, but in 1797, when it was actually moved to the Louvre, it was placed in the
gallery of the museum. After the sculpture's restoration in 1811 by the father and son founder-
chasers (French:
ciseleurs)
Delafontaine, it was installed by the architect
Pierre-François Fontaine over the Caryatides Balcony in the Salle des
Caryatides of the
Lescot Wing, where it remained until 1847, when it was replaced with a cast by
Antoine-Louis Barye and transferred to the Sculptures rooms. It was later moved to a landing of the Mollien Staircase above the ground floor of the Denon Wing of the Louvre, where it is currently on display. File:Château d'Anet - Anet - Eure-et-Loir - France - Mérimée PA00096955 (4).jpg|Replica at the
Château d'Anet File:Chateau Anet - portail.jpg|Long view showing its location above the entrance gate at Anet File:Fontainebleau Nymph - Moulding in salle des Caryatides.jpg|Replica in the Salle des Caryatides of the Louvre File:Paris Palais du Louvre Salle des Caryatides 02a.jpg|Long view showing the
Nymph above the balcony supported by the four
caryatids sculpted by
Jean Goujon File:Escalier Mollien (Louvre) - rez-de-chaussée vers premier étage.jpg|Long view showing its location on the Mollien Stairs of the
Louvre File:Benvenuto cellini, ninfa di fontainebleau, 1542-43 ca. 04.JPG|Close-up view of the original bronze by Cellini ==See also==