Étienne-Maurice Falconet was a French sculptor, best known for his statue of Peter the Great, ‘The Bronze Horseman’, located in St. Petersburg.
Although he trained as a carpenter, clay models, which he made in his spare time, attracted the interest of sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, who he went on to work under. His successful career saw him appointed director of the sculpture atelier at Sèvres in 1757, where he worked until Catherine the Great invited him to Russia in 1766. On his return in 1788 he became director of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.