Alexandre Descatoire

Alexandre Descatoire (22 August 1874 – 7 March 1949) was a French sculptor.

[1] Descatoire was born in Douai and was a pupil of André-Louis-Adolphe Laoust.

[2] Educated at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Descatoire was runner up for the Prix de Rome of 1902.

A central bas-relief represents the Victory of the Lion of Flanders, flanked by a crossbowman and a machine gunner.

The inclusion of a crossbowman refers back to another dramatic episode in Douaisian history, the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle in 1324, when 600 citizens of Douai lost their lives.