Because of his family origins and his classical training, Vincent Du Bois has always had a close relationship with drawing and the figure. The portrait holds an important place in his work, even if it is dissociated from his contemporary approach. However, VDB’s pieces, whether conceptual or figurative, are concerned with transcribing life into matter, and following the Roman tradition of the Roman psychological portrait, the faces and bodies he sculpts always speak of our times.

The creation of this work combines ancestral know-how with advanced digital techniques in order to marry two eras in a continuity of traditions, according to the wishes of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). Indeed, its founder, Pierre de Coubertin, was a visionary figure whose ideas still amaze today with their modernity such as sustainable development, gender equality, sport at the center of dialogue between peoples.
First a clay sculpture of the subject was made before scanning it using 3D digital techniques allowing milling on a polystyrene model before meticulous work in the foundry. The sculpture required a great polishing work, applied to an alloy of bronze and silver. The texture and the unique patina of the sculpture make it possible to turn away from the static or purely portraitist dimension of the work in order to emphasize its luminosity and its brilliance, attributes which also guided the design of the building. This light energy is part of a concept of “time filter” which assumes the physical disappearance of the subject, Pierre de Coubertin, but the perpetuation of his ideas in the present.