French sculptor. He was the pupil of Houdon then of David and carried out a number of busts and statues for the French imperial family. He was a member of the team of sculptors (including Boizot, Bosio, Bartolini, Ramey, Rude, Corbet, Clodion and Ruxthiel) which was commissioned to execute the frieze on the Vendome column. The honour of modelling the first portrait bust of the King of Rome (the son of Napoleon and Marie-Louise) was given to Ruxthiel. Ruxthiel's small bust was intended to serve as a model for mass production in Sevres-porcelain. Some marble busts do also exist and though it is rather lifeless, this portrait earned Ruxthiel the title Sculpteur des Enfants de France, awarded to him by Napoleon in 1812. His masterpiece, the Zephyr and Psyche is in the Louvre. //