Jean-Baptiste Defernex

Jean-Baptist Defernex (c. 1729 – c. 1783) was a French sculptor, best known for his portrait busts, most often of women.

He was sculptor to the Duc d'Orléans and worked on gilded lead statue groups of children at the Palais-Royal.

He also established a school for sculpture and drawing, where the noted Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau studied.

Defernex did not receive any official commissions, and his style seems to have been regarded as unfashionable during his day.

The expressions of his portrait busts have been compared to those of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and have been described as "...honest, unidealized, quite free from gallant flattery..." by the art historian Michael Levey.