MUNCIE, Ind. - An early version of one of the most popular sculptures in later 19th-century France joins the Ball State University Museum of Art's collection thanks to a new fund.

Marius Jean Antonin Mercie's terra cotta "Gloria Victis! (Glory to the Vanquished!)," dated around 1872-73, is the museum's first purchase with the Lucy Ball Owsley Memorial Fund.

The sculpture and other 1998-99 additions to the museum's permanent collection are showcased in the "Recent Acquisitions" exhibition through Nov. 14 in the Francis F. Brown Study Room.

With its twisting torsos and outstretched wings, Mercie's dynamic piece is a preparatory stage toward the widely disseminated bronze "Gloria Victis!" sculpture, which commemorates French heroism in defeat during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.

The modestly sized terra cotta is a "maquette," or detailed study, that Mercie created for his sculpture. In the maquette and the full-size bronze, a winged figure of Fame grasps a dying warrior who falls across her shoulder, still clutching his broken saber in his right hand.

Scholars have cited the famous ancient Greek sculpture "Nike of Samothrace" as a source for the landing figure of Fame.

Mercie's full-size plaster was an immediate success in the Salon of 1874. Praised by critics and the public, it brought the already-famous 29-year-old French artist numerous honors.

The city of Paris purchased the plaster and had it cast in bronze, eventually placing it in the town hall. Additional casts soon appeared in towns across France to memorialize the dead of the Franco-Prussian war, and by 1875 foundries had begun producing small-scale replicas.

The museum's terra cotta shows Mercie working out most of the details of the composition, including the armor visible on Fame's upper right arm, the swirl of drapery near her right knee and the position of her wings and feet.

"The maquette must have been very close to the final composition," said Nancy Huth, the museum's assistant director and curator of education. "As Mercie began planning the piece, he had envisioned a sculpture celebrating victory, but when news of France's surrender reached the artist, who was studying at the French Academy in Rome at the time, he altered the victorious warrior to resemble a dying one. The maquette shows this new composition."

Born in 1845, Mercie was a successful and prolific artist known for his dynamic and realistic style. For his "Gloria Victis!" and "David," critics dubbed his work "Neo-Florentine."

Mercie studied in Paris at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts and won the coveted Prix de Rome (Rome Prize). One of his teachers at the school was Alexandre Falguiere, whose small-scale "Diana" is in the Ball State museum's collection.

While still in his early 20s Mercie garnered major medals, awards and commissions. He completed other memorials, architectural and tomb decorations, portrait sculptures and paintings, and he held several posts in the official Paris art world.

The Ball State Museum of Art is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It is closed on university holidays. Phone: (765) 285-5242.

By Ted Buck, Communications Manager