Marius Jean Antonin Mercié was born in Toulouse and attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he studied under François Jouffroy and Alexandre Falguière.
By 1874 Mercié's fame was growing and in that year he submitted the work Gloria Victis (Gloire aux Vaincus) to the Salon and this enjoyed great success.
From 1880 onwards he practiced also as a painter and was made Professor of design and sculpture at the École des Beaux Arts where he was to inspire many artists including Constantin Brâncuși.
Mercié is regarded as having been a member of the group known as the "École toulousaine" along with Laurent Marqueste (1848–1920), Victor Segoffin (1867–1925), Jean-Marie Mengue (1855–1949) and Auguste Seysses (1862–1946).
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] "A la Suisse, en reconnaissance de l'hospitalité donnée à l'armée française 1870"This translates as "To Switzerland in recognition of the hospitality given to the French army in 1870".