COUSTOU, Guillaume (1677-1746), was the son of a wood-carver at Lyons, where he was born. Like his brother Nicolas, also a sculptor, he gained the Colbert prize; but refusing to submit to the rules of the Academy, he soon left it, and for some time wandered houseless through the streets of Rome. At length he was befriended by the sculptor Legros, under whom he studied for some time. Returning to Paris, he was in 1704 admitted into the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, of which he afterwards became director; and, like his brother, he was employed by Louis XIV, His finest works are the famous group of the Horse Tamers, originally at Many, now in the Champs Elysées at Paris, the colossal group The Ocean and the Mediterranean at Marly, the bronze Rhine which formed part of the statue of Louis XIV at Lyons, and the sculptures at the entrance of the Hotel des Invalides. Of these latter, the bas-relief representing Louis XIV mounted and accompanied by Justice and Prudence was destroyed during the Revolution, but was restored in 1815 by Pierre Cartellier from Coustou's model; the bronze figures of Mars and Minerva, on either side of the doorway, were not interfered with.

Source: Entry on the artist in the 1911 Edition Encyclopedia.