Nicolas Coustou was a French sculptor and academic. He was the son of a woodcarver, who gave him his first instruction in art. At eighteen he moved to Paris, to study under C.A. Coysevox, his mother's brother, who presided over the recently-established Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture; and at twenty-three he gained the Colbert prize, which entitled him to four years education at the French Academy at Rome. Wikipedia
Coysevox and the Coustous formed a school in French sculpture and were distinguished by grace, naturalness and truth to life. www.newadvent.org/cathen/04455a.htm
The definitive Wikipedia entry for Nicolas Coustou. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Coustou
