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Jean-Jacques Castex

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Père-Lachaise - Division 11 - Castex 03.jpg

Jean-Jacques Castex (9 April 1731 – 1822) was a French sculptor.

Castex was born in Toulouse. He participated in the Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt. In January 1799, he accompanied the geographer Bertre in his travel to Fayoum.[1] He was part of the committee led by Pierre Girard which left Cairo on 19 March 1799 to go to Upper Egypt.[2] He made a wax model, reduced to one third, of the Dendera zodiac.[3] He created, after the drawings he had brought back from Egypt, a Zodiaque, which was exhibited at the 1819 Salon.[4] He remains famous for having carved an inscription on the stone of the great temple of Philae.[5] Despite his talent, he died in poverty at the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris.[6]

References

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  1. ^ (in French) Yves Laissus, L'Égypte, une aventure savante, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 222
  2. ^ (in French) Yves Laissus, L'Égypte, une aventure savante, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 278
  3. ^ (in French) Yves Laissus, L'Égypte, une aventure savante, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 282
  4. ^ (in French) Bénézit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Paris, Gründ, 1999, t. III, p. 351
  5. ^ (in French) Yves Laissus, L'Égypte, une aventure savante, Paris, Fayard, 1998, p. 285-286
  6. ^ (in French) Edouard de Villiers du Terrage, Journal et souvenirs sur l'expédition d'Égypte, mis en ordre et publiés par le baron Marc de Villiers du Terrage, Paris, E. Plon, Nourrit, 1899, and L'expédition d'Égypte 1798-1801, Journal et souvenirs d'un jeune savant, Paris, Cosmopole, 2001 and 2003, p. 356