Alexandre Colin

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Alexandre Colin (1526-1612), Flemish sculptor, was born at Mechelen. In 1563 he went, at the invitation of the emperor Ferdinand I, to Innsbruck, to work on the magnificent monument which was being erected to Maximilian I in the nave of the Franciscan church. Of the twenty-four marble altirilievi (high reliefs), representing the emperors principal acts and victories, which adorn the sides of this tomb, twenty were executed by Cohn, apparently in three years. The work displays a remarkable combination of liveliness and spirit with extreme care and finish, its delicacy rivaling that of a fine cameo. Bertel Thorvaldsen is said to have pronounced it the finest work of its kind. Cohn, who was sculptor in ordinary both to the emperor and to his son, the archduke Ferdinand of Tirol, did a great deal of work for his patrons at Innsbruck and in its neighborhood; particular mention may be made of the sepulchers of the archduke and his first wife, Philippine Welser, both in the same church as the Maximilian monument, and of Bishop Jean Nas. His tomb in the cemetery at Innsbruck bears a fine bas-relief executed by one of his sons.