Rude, François

(born Jan. 4, 1784, Dijon, Fr.—died Nov. 3, 1855, Paris) French sculptor. He won the Prix de Rome in 1812 but was prevented from going to Rome by the Napoleonic Wars. His early work was in the Neoclassical tradition, but he was uncomfortable within its restrictions and soon adopted a dynamic, emotional style that might be called Romantic-Realist. An ardent Bonapartist, he is best known for Departure of the Volunteers of 1792 (1833–36) on the Arc de Triomphe; popularly called La Marseillaise, it catches the martial spirit of the Napoleonic era.

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