The New International Encyclopædia/Sergel, Johan Tobias

SERGEL, sĕr'gel, Johan Tobias (1740-1814). A Swedish sculptor, born at Stockholm. First a pupil of L'Archevêsque, he studied afterwards in Paris, and after 1767 in Rome, where during a sojourn of twelve years he acquired great reputation. Upon his return to Stockholm, whither he had been summoned by Gustavus III., he was appointed Court sculptor, professor, and in 1810 director of the Academy. The fifteen works of his preserved in the National Museum at Stockholm include a “Faun;” “Cupid and Psyche;” his masterpiece, “Diomedes Stealing the Palladium;” “The Muse of History Recording the Deeds of Gustavus Adolphus,” a group of heroic size; and a colossal “Bust of Gustavus III.” Besides these the “Monument of Gustavus III.” (1808), at the foot of the Slottsbacke (Palace Hill), the “Resurrection,” an altar-piece, and the “Monument to Descartes,” both in the Adolf-Fredriks Kyrka, should be mentioned. For his biography, consult Nyblom (Upsala, 1877).