Émile Louis Picault was a French Orientalist sculptor, best known for works depicting allegorical and patriotic subjects, and mythological heroes. Picault was a very prolific artist, producing sculptures in abundance—over 500 models in total—during his long sculpting career. He began to show his artwork at the Salon beginning in 1863. He signed the majority of his work as "E. Picault".
Picault often chose warriors and heroes as subjects, as seen in his La Défense Du Foyer (ca. 1890), which extols patriotic virtues in French. Born on August 24, 1833 in Paris, France he studied under the painter Henri Royer. The sculptor exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon between 1863 and 1914. Picault died in 1915 in Paris, France. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Troyes Museum in Paris and the Musée des beaux-arts de Chambery.
