Bonnet, Guillaume

SCULPTOR (FRANCE)
BORN 27 Jun 1820, St.-Germain-Laval - DIED 26 Apr 1873, Lyon
GRAVE LOCATION Lyon: Cimetière de Loyasse, 43, rue du Cardinal-Gerlier (Allee 89/2, on the right)

Guillaume Bonnet was the son of farmers who had moved to Lyons to find work there. He became an orphan when he was fourteen years old. His foster parents enabled him to study at the École des Beaux-arts de Lyon. In Paris he was a pupil of Jules Ramey and Augustin Dumont. In 1848 he won the Second Prix de Rome for his medal engravings. In the winter of 1853/1854 he travelled to Italy.

His career as a sculptor in Lyons evolved slowly. Most interesting assignments went to other sculptors like Fabisch. But eventually his portrait busts (Victor Orsel, Musée dex Beaux-Arts, Lyons) and designs for tombs (Jacquard and Bonnefond at the Loyasse cemetery) found recognition. He also contributed to projects like the reconstruction of the Hôtel de Ville and the construction of the Palais du Commerce.

After his death a commission led by Antoine Chenavard raised money for his grave monument and the city of Lyons paid for his grave.

Related persons
• designed grave monument of Bonnefond, Claude
• designed grave monument of Genod, Michel-Philibert

Images

The grave of Guillaume Bonnet at the Loyasse cimetière, Lyon.
Picture by Androom (03 Dec 2007)

 

Sources
• Hours, Henri, Maryannick Lavigne-Louis, Marie-Madeleine Vallette-D'Osia, Lyon - La Cimetière de Loyasse, Conseil Général du Rhône, Lyon, 1996
http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/getpart.php?id=lyon2.2008.penlou_s&part=153361


Bonsanti, Alessandro

Published: 11 Apr 2015
Last update: 16 May 2020