Virgile - Gabriel Thomas

1861 Gabriel-Jules Thomas (10 September 1824 – 8 March 1905) was a French sculptor, born in Paris. Thomas attended the École des Beaux-Arts and in 1848 he won the Prix de Rome in the sculpture category with his Philoctète partant pour le siège de Troie ("Philoctetes Leaves for the Siege of Troy") in plaster. This piece was briefly displayed in New York City at the Dahesh Museum of Art for their 2005–2006 exhibition entitled "The Legacy of Homer." It is normally kept at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He later taught at the Ecole. Among his students were Gaston Lachaise.and American sculptor, August Zeller.