François Jouffroy (February 1, 1806, Dijon-Laval, Mayenne, June 25, 1882) was a French sculptor. The son of a baker, he attended the drawing school in Dijon before being admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1824. In 1832 he won the Prix de Rome. Jouffroy often had to contend with Pierre-Jean David d’Angers for public commissions, but during the Second Empire (1851–1870) still participated in the decoration of several public buildings.

Works

His best-known work is probably the sculpture “Girl Confiding her Secret to Venus” (1839), which can presently be seen at the Louvre. Among his other works are:

• the stone pediment for the Institut des Jeunes Aveugles (1840)
• the sculptures “Varsovie” and “Bruxelles” at the Chapelle-Montmartre-Parmentier (c. 1864-1865)
• “Marine Commerce and Naval Power” for the Guichets du Carrousel at the Louvre (c. 1867–1868)
• “Harmony” (1865–1869) on the façade of the new Paris Opera
• ”L'Aurore”, sculpture at the Montparnasse-Raspail (c. 1870-1875), one of a set of "Times of the Day" by various sculptors

Students

As a teacher at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Jouffroy had great influence on several famous artists, among these:

• Alexandre Falguière
• Marius-Jean-Antonin Mercié
• Louis-Ernest Barrias
• Augustus Saint-Gaudens
• António Soares dos Reis
• Olin Levi Warner