Soldi-Colbert was the son of a German professor named Soldyck, of Danish origin. He worked as a bookbinder and trained as a medal-engraver, before beidng admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts. He debuted at the salon with a relief depicting Acteon, a plaster of which was sold in these roo🧔ms, 15 November 2005, lot 37.

The model for the present Flora was commissioned in 1898, and the plaster was finished by Soldi-Colbert in 1900. The completed lifesize mar💮ble version, measuring 190cm., was in the Jardin du Carrousel (at the Arc de Trio🍎mphe) from 1903 onwards, but was destroyed during the liberation of Paris in August 1944. 

RELATED LITERATURE

G. Bresc-Bautier and A. Pingeot, Sculptures des jardins du Louvre, du Carrousel et des Tuileries II, Paris, 1986, pp. 410-412