PEYTON BRADFORD (“BRAD”) PARKER, SCULPTOR,

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Parker Studio of Structural Sculpture,

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1115 Lanvale St. West, Baltimore, Maryland 21217.

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http://parkerstudiostructuralsculpture.com

previously – BETHESDA, MARYLAND}

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sculptorBradP@sculptorbradp.com

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sculptorBradP@yahoo.com

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A Brief Vocational Autobiography

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My vocation in life is investigating the elements of Greek Hellenistic sculpture with a view to developing a compatible artistic method. By Hellenistic sculpture I mean the body of work dating from the time of Alexander the Great to 200 AD—a body of work that, building on the great achievements of the Classical period, took sculpture to new heights in the Pergamon Altar reliefs, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, the Belvedere Torso, the Laocoön, and numerous other masterpieces.

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This vocation has led me to see Hellenistic sculpture as a body of information to be read on its own terms. The underlying technique involves a language that is at first view open, simple, and inviting. Yet the language is sufficiently subtle and complex to have evaded the comprehension of—and indeed dwarfed the achievements of—modern artists from the Renaissance onward. The modern idea of “High Art,” in other words, is not static insofar as it derives from an evolving understanding of the sculpture of the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Astonishing as it may seem, a deeply informed understanding of the Greek achievement was shared only by an enlightened few even in Michelangelo’s day. It is shared by almost no one in our own.

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A fuller understanding of this achievement, however, is truly crucial at the present time, when modernistic trends dating back as far as the 1830’s (not to mention the overtly modernist trends of more recent origin) have wiped the slate clean of even a residual understanding of truly classical principles of form. As a result, the growing ranks of avowedly traditional artists in our midst display a seriously impoverished understanding of the human figure. The clean slate, then, represents both a formidable challenge and an enormous opportunity for sound artistic instruction. I believe a bold new foundation for formal pedagogy must be laid in the decades ahead.

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Seated Siren, by P. Brad Parker

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After graduating from a Bethesda high school art program (admission to which was portfoliobased), I studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, generally considered the nation’s premier art school, from 1977 to 1984. The primary interest the PAFA held for me was its cast collection of antique and modern sculpture. I made this collection the core of my study throughout my years in Philadelphia. My time was mainly spent drawing and making clay sculpture copies of the antique and drawing life models. Concurrently, I studied at the Frudakis Academy under Angelo Frudakis Sr. for three years. There I had access to some high-quality modern bronze recastings of antique bronzes in the Naples Archeological Museum, which the University of Pennsylvania had loaned to Mr. Frudakis. At this time I made a conceptual breakthrough regarding the techniques based on late-19th-century training, then (as now) the “traditional” or “academic” norm. Following the tenets of this training, I realized, would actually undermine, rather than merely simplify, the language of Hellenistic sculpture.

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Yet the realization that this formal language actually existed was critical to my development. I discarded eighty percent of my academic training, came back home to Bethesda, and in continuing my studies on my own made use of the National Gallery of Art collection, as well as life models, in working out an artistic method grounded not in superficial notions of “style” but rather in complex formal content.

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This methodological quest took me to Europe, where I spent the years 1990-1994 studying Hellenistic sculpture. I also studied modern techniques derived from Hellenistic work, focusing on Michelangelo and those most influenced by him, particularly Giambologna and his school, as well as the French academic school down through Houdon, and the seriously underappreciated German classicists of the 19th century, who continued to produce superior work for decades after the French academy had gone into decline.

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I spent most of my time in museums and archeology departments, drawing copies with charcoal or making sculptural copies in clay. This I did at the Budapest Technical University, home to a plaster cast collection as well as works of antique sculpture; at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin; at the Royal Collection of Plaster Casts in Copenhagen; at the Vatican and Capitoline museums in Rome; at the archeological museum in Sperlonga, Italy, which contains important remnants and reconstructions of the major sculptural groups originally installed in the celebrated Grotto of the Emperor Tiberius; and at the aforementioned Naples museum, one of the foremost repositories of antique sculpture.

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For the student of Classical and Hellenistic sculpture, large European collections of high-quality plaster casts of antique works, such as the Copenhagen collection, are the ideal venue. A fine plaster cast is actually preferable to the original sculpture for artistic training since its even, matte white surface reveals aspects of formal complexity easily missed in the actual work of marble, bronze, or terra cotta. This is why plaster-cast production began during the Renaissance in cities like Rome that already boasted major troves of antique sculpture. Unfortunately, the ranks of major cast collections have decreased precipitously—thanks largely to the destruction wrought in World War II, but also to the neglect and outright vandalism that modernism brought on over the course of the 20th century.

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During my time in Europe, however, cast collections were being re-evaluated as significant arthistorical resources. Salvaging of casts and their relocation to suitable exhibition space got underway just before my study tour began. As the information on extant collections in leading institutions was still limited, I decided to catalogue all the plaster-cast collections I could find, listing the name of the particular sculptural work, the museum where the actual sculpture in bronze or stone resides, and the degree of clarity in the plaster-cast reproduction.

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This project took me to more than 70 cast collections in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland. Venues ranged from secondary art schools (licei d’arte) in Italy with small collections to a defunct paper mill in the tiny, industrially-hyperpolluted Czech town of Hostinné, housing hundreds of high-quality casts relocated from Karlova University in Prague on the eve of the Soviet suppression of the Prague Spring.

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My listing of each sculptural variant in plaster is a guide to the highest-quality available reproductions for making studies in clay or on paper. Some venues—most significantly, the Dresden plaster cast collection—were off-limits to me during this period, but my list nevertheless will serve as a valuable resource for future students of classical sculpture. This is all the more important in light of the fact that the major American plaster-cast collections were never of exceptional quality and are in their present state mediocre. American institutions have been unwilling as a rule to pay top dollar for high-quality casts.

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Lilith and Eve, by P. Brad Parker St.Francis of Asissi, by P. Brad Parker

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Life Model Leslie, charcoal, by P. Brad Parker Life Model Marina, charcoal, by P. Brad Parker

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Farnese Hercules, Hellenistic sculpture in the

National Archeology Museum, Naples, charcoal,

by P. Brad Parker

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Life Model Mehrnosh, charcoal, by P. Brad Parker

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Another important aspect of my European research was the study of pre-19th-century competition sculptures of advanced students at the major academies and ateliers throughout Europe. This involved discovering the formal elements derived from Hellenistic work that were taught by the leading artists and exemplified in the prize-winning student work. In proving their merit, these graduating sculptors would make obvious their understanding of the formal content issues they were taught—in a manner less subtle and evasive than was typically the case with their masters’ work. This gave me a grasp of pedagogical issues that I believe has made me a much more effective teacher at my own school, the Parker School of Structural Sculpture, which I direct from my Bethesda studio. Given my lack of access to a good classical cast collection, I largely rely in my teaching on just a few plaster casts of antique works which I acquired in Europe, or retained as copies I sculpted in clay and cast into plaster.

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My time in Europe also made me an infinitely better sculptor than I could have been otherwise. I have applied the knowledge acquired during my long, arduous self-education to sculptures ranging from portrait busts to mythological works.

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My oeuvre reflects the Hellenistic sculptors’ understanding that each human body is different, endowed with its own unique topography. They set about extrapolating this topography from the model and clarifying it. The current “traditional” methodology is totally different: It involves a rather uninformed and generic rendering of anatomy, and is keyed to light effects manipulated to arrive at an “optical realism” or “optical record”—often topped off with a slick finish that can lend a deceptively classical aura. Though it relies on inadequately articulated shapes, this formal approach can play out beautifully in a photographic reproduction, with the sculpture carefully placed so as to exploit the incidence of light. Greek sculpture, in contrast, has nothing to do with light effects, and everything to do with complex geometric form.

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Establishing a sound artistic methodology is of course more difficult nowadays because art history is understood as a matter of literary critique rather than formal appraisal in any true sense. The “narrative” thus takes on a life of its own. Greek sculpture, however, has a spiritual dimension that defies the current critical wisdom. This arises from visual and conceptual elements that enable the artist to transcribe not just a set of natural phenomena but a heightened experiential state.

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The Greeks’ experience of nature, in other words, led to a quest for archetypes in which the various patterns they observed in nature were distilled and recast in works of art incarnating what Goethe might call an “intensified” or exalted reality. The activation or galvanization of the surrounding space that the sensitive observer experiences in contemplating works of Greek sculpture—the Winged Victory at the Louvre is just one obvious example—is part and parcel of this “intensified” reality.

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Great modern sculptors, Michelangelo above all, not only divined this ancient artistic teleology, but reconciled it with Christian belief, for in his view the beauty of classically-informed art was a token of heavenly things and the life of the world to come. Inevitably, then, the spiritual dimension within the classical artistic tradition is integral to my own vocation.

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Aphrodite Figure 2, Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2, Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2 h Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2 f Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2, Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2, Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Figure 2, Pergamon Museum Berlin

Aphrodite Munich Glyptotek 2

Aphrodite Munich Glyptotek 2

Aphrodite Munich Glyptotek 2

Aphrodite Munich Glyptotek 2

Aphrodite Munich Glyptotek 2

Atena Altenburg Plaster Collection

Crouching Aphrodite 1 Plaster Munich Cast Collection

Crouching Aphrodite Two Munich Plaster Cast Collection

Crouching Aprodite 1 B Munich Plaster Cast Collection

Greater Herculaneum Woman Dresden Plaster from Cast Collection Munich Germany

Lesser Herculaneum Woman Dresden Plaster Munich Cast Collection

Lesser Herculaneum Woman Dresden Plaster Munich Cast Collection

Robed Female Figure Pergamon Museum Berlin

Three Robed Hellenistic Female Figues Munich Cast Collection

Venus de Medici B Munich Plaster Cast Collection

Venus de Medici C Munich Cast Collection

Böttgerstele
To 300. Birthday of Johann Friedrich Böttger, was set up to 1982 in the Brühl garden the Böttger Stele by Peter Makolies. Under the garden were the Gewölbe, as Johann Friedrich Böttger as well as Ehrenfried Walther of Tschirnhaus between 1707 and 1709 developed the procedure for the production of the European porcelain.            

Caspar David Friedrich
Likewise in the Brühl garden reminded since 1990 the modern arranged monument for the painter Caspar David Friedricht. The monument created wolf Eike Kunt for the famous painter, who lived from 1798 to its death 1840 in Dresden. Many of its works are to be seen in the nearby Albertinum.            

Fabrice Mausoleum
The Fabrice Mausoleum is in the Albert city, to the Stauffenbergallee, corner Marienallee. It was created by Constantin Lipsius in the year 1891. In the Mausoleum rests the general George Friedrich count von Fabrice, who was from 1866 to 1891 a Saxonian war Minister. To the Mausoleum in former times still another belonged bronze fixed image created by Johannes Schilling, which was melted in the Second World War.             Yard fool Joseph merry
At the yard fools of August of the strong Joseph merry (1694-1757) today a monument at its former house reminds. Once the “Narrenhäusel” stood was called at the bridgehead of the Augustusbrücke on Neustädter side and. Since 1978 the monument reminds of the yard fool, who Heinrich Apel created.            

Rider fixed image king Johann
The bronze rider monument king Johanns stands in the center of the theatre place before the Semperoper. It created Johannes Schilling in the year 1889. It at the 1873 deceased king Johann, the owner of the Semperoper was reminded.             Erich Kästner
Erich the Kästner monument is because of the north side of the Albert place in the Dresdens new city. It was created 1987 by wolf Eike Kunt and is to remind of the famous writer, who spent its childhood nearby the Albert place.  

Martin Luther
Directly before the woman church on the new market the Martin Luther monument stands. It was created by Adolf of Donndorf in the year 1885. The head of the monument is however a clay/tone model of Ernst Rietschel, it also for the city Worms a monument had sketched, this there however did not begin. Thus the draft came on Dresdens the monument.            

Moreau monument and Bismarck tower
At the Dresdens Räcknitzhöhe stands a klassizistisches Denkaml, which of the French general Jean Victor Moreau reminds. It created Christian God-dear bold 1814 after a draft of God praise Friedrich Thormeyer. The monument shows a Greek helmet, a sword and a laurel ring. The French general was an opponent Napoleon and 1813 into Russian services had stepped. To the three the oaks allied against Napoleon remind.

Only not far far away from the Moreau monument stands in the year 1906 the Bismarck tower created by William circle. From here a wonderful view is offered over Dresden and the Elbtal.

Moritzmonument
The oldest monument of Dresden is the Moritzmonument. The monument is addressed to the young remote bastion of the Brühl terrace to the Elbe. It was created 1553 on behalf the cure prince August von Hans Walther from sandstone and reminded of the cure prince Moritz of Saxonia.            

Mozart monument
On the citizen meadow is the well-known and beautiful Mozart well. It was created 1907 by the citizen of Berlin sculptor Hermann Hosaeus and shows three gilded bronze figures “beauty”, “amusement” and “Ernst”. It was part-destroyed and removed 1945. Only 1991 were again set up it.  

Ernst Rietschel
The Rietschel monument is before the Sekondogenitur on the Brühl terrace. It was created by the pupil Rietschels Johannes Schilling in the year 1876 from bronze. Rietschel created many monuments, like the Goethe Schiller monument in Weimar, the Luther monument in Worms or the Lessingdenkmal in Braunschweig. The monument could be saved 1941 before melting.            

Gottfried Semper
The 1892 Semperdenkmal created by Johannes Schilling stand on the Brühl terrace between the academy of arts and the Albertinum at the stairs to the George faithful place. It is a donation of the federation of German architects and engineers.  

Rubble woman and Bacchus
The “rubble woman” on the town hall square is to remind of the women, who beräumten the Dresdens old part of town after 1945 of the rubble. The sculpture created walter Reinhold in the year 1952.

Before the entrance to the advice cellar is a group of bronzes of “Bacchus on a trunkenen donkey riding”. The figure originates from George Wrba from the year 1910. Touching or affecting the large toe of the Bacchus is to bring luck.

Bacchus at the advice cellar

Bacchus

Rubble woman

Four times of day
One finds the group of the “four times of day” at the stairway to the Brühl terrace from the lock place. If one regards the group of the lock place, at the bottom left hand corner “evening” is and down on the right of “night” on the left of above “mornings”, above on the right of “noon”.
They were set by Johannes Schilling 1868 finished and received to the Viennese art exhibition 1869 the first price. The figures from sandstone, which weathered however too strongly, were original, so that one replaced her to 1908 by orginalgetreue bronze castings. The originals stand today on the island of the Chemnitzer of lock pond.

“Mornings”

“Noon”

“Evening”

“Night”

Carl Maria von Weber
The monument for the famous composer Carl Maria von Weber, from 1817 to its death 1826 in Dresden worked, stands between the Semperoper and the kennel. The bronze monument created Ernst Rietschel between 1855 and 1860. Weber worked in Dresden as a director of music and composed here operas like “free contactor”, “Oberon” or “Euryanthe”.            

Nieritzdenkmal
The monument for the popular Dresden youth writer Karl Gustav Nieritz (1795-1876) is in the proximity of the king route at the end of the Nieritzstrasse. The monument was created by Gustav Kietz between 1876 and 1878.            

Monument for king Friedrich August I.
The monument for the cure prince Friedrich August III., that starting from 1806 king Friedrich August I. became stands beside the entrance of the Japanese palace to the palace garden. It shows the king as a scholar with a book and a Zepter. The corners of the monument are to represent the justice, mildness, wisdom and Frömmigkeit. It was created 1843 by Ernst Rietschel, who worked together with Christian Daniel smoke on the draft. Gottfried Semper and Karl Friedrich Schinkel sketched the Postament. Originally the monument from 1843 to 1929 stood in the kennel.             Monument for Friedrich August IITH king of Saxonia
The monument was created 1876 by Ernst Julius Hähnel. It shows the king in a field gentleman float.             Monument for Theodor of grains
The monument at the George place for Theodor of grains originates from Ernst Julius Hähnel from the year 1871. George gentleman Mr. Nicolai sketched the Granitpostament. The figure is approx. 2.75 m high and represents the large poet in un
Posted in Sculpture derived from Greek Hellenistic sculpture ]]> http://bradpsculptor.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/ernst-friedrich-august-rietschel-1804-%e2%80%93-1861-born-at-pulsnitz-in-saxony-ger-provinz-sachsen-d-1861-dresden-germany-pg-2/feed/ 0 bradpsculptor http://bradpsculptor.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/jean-antoine-houdon-france-b-1741-versailles-d-1828-paris-sculptor/ http://bradpsculptor.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/jean-antoine-houdon-france-b-1741-versailles-d-1828-paris-sculptor/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:19:18 +0000 bradpsculptor http://bradpsculptor.wordpress.com/?p=534 ]]> Entry for December 26, 2006

Jean Antoine Houdon, – France, b. 1741 Versailles – d. 1828 Paris, sculptor, Diana, Plaster, (LifeSize sculpture), Gotha, Thuringia, Germany

 

Jean-Antoine HOUDON – Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828
Diane chasseresse
1790

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Diana – Scandalous nudity
Houdon presented a life-size plaster of Diana in his studio during the 1777 Salon. The finished sculpture was to be executed in marble (Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon) for Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Gotha, as compensation for a commission lost by the sculptor. The bronze version is now in the Louvre. The sculpture was acclaimed for its beauty worthy of classical statuary. The impression of swiftness is accentuated by Diana’s slim figure. Yet her unabashed beauty caused a scandal. Diana was habitually portrayed in a short tunic belted at the waist, in the manner of the often-copied Artemis the Huntress (Louvre), a classical marble acquired by Francis I. The goddess’s nudity was deemed acceptable only when she was depicted bathing. The same year as Houdon, Christophe Allegrain showed – also outside the Salon – his buxom Diana, surpised by the huntsman Actaeon while bathing (Louvre). Yet during the Renaissance, the goddess of hunting was often represented in the nude. The Diana the Huntress of the School of Fontainebleau (Louvre) and the large marble group from the Château d’Anet (Louvre) – in which the nude Diana, accompanied by her dogs, reclines, her arms around a stag – are two well-known examples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antiquity revisited

Houdon’s wonderfully reconciles the aesthetics of antiquity and the Renaissance. From antiquity, Diana has retained her triumphant nudity, whose elegance and distinction inspires respect rather than temerity. The goddess’s noble, even haughty bearing; serene, idealized face reflecting no emotion; and distant gaze render her impersonal and inaccessible. The elongation of the female body, firm anatomy, and linear purity belong to the Renaissance of the School of Fontainebleau. Her slender body, leaning slightly forward on one foot, gives the statue an ethereal and dynamic allure and affords multiple points of view. It evokes the daring balance of the flying Mercury by Giovanni da Bologna (1529-1608), a Florentine sculptor of Flemish origin who exercized considerable influence on European sculptors. But Houdon’s Diana is also a full-bodied creature of the flesh. Her naked pubis, considered too realistic, was filled in and flattened in 1829.

A technical tour-de-force

The glory of the great masters of French sculpture (Girardon, Coysevox, Lemoyne, Bouchardon, Pigalle) rests on their bronze statuary, but they seem to have known little about the technical aspects of casting. Houdon, who had a passion for the art of casting, cast two large bronzes of Diana himself at the Roule foundry in Paris: an eight-piece one in 1782 (San Marino, California) and a five-piece one in 1790 (the statue now in the Louvre was purchased at auction by Charles X after the sculptor’s death in 1828).

 

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Jean-Antoine Houdon studied in Paris under such sculptors as Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. As a winner of the Prix de Rome, he worked in Rome from 1764 to 1768. There he was influenced by ancient artifacts, including those recently unearthed in Herculaneum and Pompeii, and works of Renaissance masters, especially Michelangelo. He created his important anatomical study of a standing man, known as the Écorché, or “flayed” figure, which later was replicated and used in most art schools. The Écorché displays a continuing characteristic of his art: classicism combined with a merciless realism.

Skilled in marble, bronze, plaster, and clay, Houdon became a member of the Académie Royale in 1771 and a professor in 1778. He made his reputation with his portraits, producing a veritable “Who’s Who” of his era’s royalty, artists, and philosophers. Patrons appreciated his ability to give marble the effect of living flesh as well as his knack for capturing his sitter’s personality. In 1785, at the request of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, Houdon crossed the Atlantic. He spent fourteen days at Mount Vernon executing a statue of George Washington. After narrowly escaping imprisonment during the French Revolution, Houdon returned to favor under Napoleon Bonaparte and finally retired in 1814.

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Houdon’s teacher Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, (1714-1785), Mercury Attaching his Wings
1744 , Louvre

 

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Houdon’s teacher Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, (1714-1785), Mercure attachant ses talonnières /

Mercury Attaching his Wings

Pigalle’s Mercury (approved in 1741) was executed for his admission to the Academy in 1744. The sculptor presented a significantly larger plaster model of this subject at the Salon of 1742, paired with a Venus; both statues were made in marble for the king, and presented in 1750 to Frederick II of Prussia.               A twisted position Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is sitting on a rock, ready to leap up. He is attaching the winged sandals which, together with his petasus (winged cap), will enable him to take flight. The god’s twisted position and the play of his limbs make the composition interesting to observe from every angle. Mercury is not looking at his talaria (winged sandals) as he attaches them, but his gesture is accentuated by the convergence of both arms and one leg. His crouched position, the upward slant of his limbs and shoulder line, and his face turned to scan the horizon, give an impression of dynamism — that Mercury is about to soar into the sky. The position of his left leg, with his weight on his toes, also suggests that the messenger god is ready for take-off. This pose was perhaps inspired by the Mercury and Argus by Jacob Jordaens (a 17th-century Flemish painter), popularized by engravings. But the play of diagonals and the multiple viewpoints afforded by sculpture in the round enabled Pigalle to add a vitality that transformed the figure of the god into an allegory of speed. Mercury’s torso is a variation on the Belvedere Torso (in the Vatican); this antique marble fragment of a muscular seated figure has a strength that fascinated Michelangelo — and has continued to fascinate artists and art lovers. It was left incomplete, which was unusual for the 18th century, and thus became a metaphor for Time that destroys the creations of Genius. It symbolized sculpture, as it does in Jacques Buirette’s 1663 reception piece, the bas-relief entitled The Union of Painting and Sculpture (in the Louvre). The Academy reception piece When Pigalle returned to Paris in 1741 after a stay in Rome (1736–39), he presented his terracotta model of Mercury for approval by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture; according to an anecdote, he had almost left the work as a pledge of payment for his accommodation when passing through Lyon. Instead of imposing another subject, the Academy asked him to transpose the model into marble for his admission piece, and he was accepted on 30 July 1744. Mercury was originally designed as an isolated figure, but in 1742, Pigalle added a matching piece: Venus Giving a Message, which illustrates an episode from the Golden Ass, a collection of tales by Latin author Apuleius (c. 125–170). In 1746, the Royal Administration commissioned Pigalle to produce a life-size marble sculpture of each figure; these works were completed in 1748, and presented by Louis XV to King Frederick II of Prussia for the park of the Sans-Souci castle near Berlin. An instant and lasting success The work was an instant success. In The Century of Louis XIV (1751), Voltaire compared it to the finest works of Greek antiquity. Many replicas were acquired by artists, and it featured in a number of paintings: the painter Chardin, a friend of Pigalle, used it to symbolize sculpture in his works The Drawing Lesson (1747, Vanas) and The Attributes of the Arts (1766, Minneapolis). A smaller version in biscuit porcelain was produced by the Sèvres manufactory as of 1770.

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Exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angelos; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, and l’Etablissement public du musée et du domaine national de Versailles. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. – Below:

Overview     Crowding Houdon’s studio are models of his sculptures, including Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Winter, all on view in the exhibition. The portraits of Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741–1828), capture the character of the men and women who defined the Enlightenment, a period of revolutionary political and social change in France and America. The Enlightenment challenged traditional beliefs about the world and led to extraordinary efforts to transform it. Houdon’s genius lay in his ability to evoke these new ideas in three-dimensional media. His startlingly lifelike portraits of leading figures of the day—including Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Louis XVI, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Napoleon—vividly recall the Enlightenment. Born in Versailles in 1741, Houdon was educated in Paris and Rome under French royal sponsorship. His classical training included studies in ancient art and anatomy, in which he showed an unusual interest and talent. Houdon established his reputation with portrait busts that were lauded for their beauty and technical sophistication. During the tumultuous years leading up to the French Revolution, Houdon executed some of his finest, most compelling work. Although formal portraiture was his mainstay, Houdon was also recognized for the innovation, intimacy, and naturalism of his busts of children, and his sensual mythological and allegorical figures. - -   Louis-Léopold Boilly French, 1803–4 Oil on canvas Ville de Cherbourg-Octeville, Musée d’Art Thomas Henry-Houdon and America During the American Revolutionary War era, Houdon sculpted many prominent heroes of the fledgling republic. His statue of George Washington stands in the capitol building in Richmond, Virginia—a commission awarded at the recommendation of his friends Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Houdon’s portrait of Jefferson was chosen in 1938 for the American nickel, still in circulation today. - - Benjamin Franklin French, dated 1779 Marble Philadelphia Museum of Art. Purchased with a generous grant from The Barra Foundation, Inc., matched by contributions from the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, the Walter E. Stait Fund, the Fiske Kimball Fund, and with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Jack M. Friedland, Hannah L. and J. Welles Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. E. Newbold Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Mark E. Rubenstein, Mr. and Mrs. John J. F. Sherrerd, the Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest, Leslie A. Miller and Richard B. Worley, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Nyheim, Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Fox, Stephanie S. Eglin, Maude de Schauensee, Mr. and Mrs. William T. Vogt, and with funds contributed by individual donors to the Fund for Franklin (1996-162-1) Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was a printer, writer, scientist, and statesman. His famous kite experiment, which demonstrated that lightning is an electrical discharge, brought him international acclaim. As a statesman, Franklin held a seat in the Pennsylvania Assembly. In 1776, he won financial aid from France for the American Revolution. He helped negotiate the peace treaty with Great Britain, signed in Paris in 1783. - - George Washington (1732 – 1799) 1786 Terre cuite H. : 0,43 m. ; L. : 0,32 m. ; Pr. : 0,26 m. Houdon exécuta en 1785 aux Etats-Unis un buste en terre cuite du général représenté dans une nudité héroïque (conservé à Mount-Vernon). L’oeuvre du Louvre, plus tardive, reprend la composition à l’antique du premier portrait, bien qu’ici Washington soit vêtu d’une tunique. - - George Washington (1732 – 1799) 1786 Terre cuite H. : 0,43 m. ; L. : 0,32 m. ; Pr. : 0,26 m.   - - Bust of John Paul Jones French (Paris), 1780 Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741–1828 Paris, France Plaster Provenance/Ownership History: 1786, probably given to Thomas Jefferson, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA by John Paul Jones. 1827, sold from Monticello to Joseph Coolidge [see note 1]; Jan 17 1828, deposited by Coolidge to the Boston Athenaeum [see note 2]. May 1903, Joseph/ Moses Kimball auction, sold to a second hand store; 1903, sold by the store to Charles H. Taylor, Boston (?) [see note 3]; June 22, 1910, lent by Taylor to the MFA; 1931, gift of Taylor to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 8, 1931) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - - Bust of John Paul Jones French (Paris), 1780 Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741–1828 Paris, France Plaster Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - - Thomas Jefferson French (Paris), 1789 Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741–1828 54.5 cm (21 7/16 in.) Stone; marble Signed: Signed and dated “houdon f 1789″. Classification: Sculpture The best-known likeness of the man who would be elected president in 1800, this bust captures the keen intelligence of the sitter and demonstrates Houdon’s superb talent for characterization. In 1785 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) succeeded Benjamin Franklin as American minister to France. Jefferson immersed himself in the artistic and cultural life of Paris, studying firsthand neoclassical architecture and actively collecting books, prints, and works of art. Houdon, described by Jefferson as “perhaps the foremost artist in the world,” executed this startlingly lifelike bust in Paris shortly before Jefferson returned to the United States to assume the position of secretary of state. Saravezza marble on gray and white marble base. Head turned slightly to right. Contemporary costume coat with standing collar, waistcoat with buttons, stock. Long hair tied at nape of neck; part of bow knot missing. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston George Nixon Black Fund, 1934 Accession number: 34.129 Provenance/Ownership History: Please note: The history of ownership is not definitive or comprehensive, as it is under constant review and revision by MFA curators and researchers. By the late 18th century, Count Antoine-Louis-Claude Destutt de Tracy (b. 1754- d. 1836), Château de Paray, Melun, France [see note 1]; 1839, by descent to Jacques Louis Leopold de Chateauvieux (d. 1868), Melun; 1868, by inheritance to his son, Ferdinand Le Clercq de Chateauvieux [see note 2]; 1916, by inheritance to his son, P. Le Clercq de Chateauvieux; 1928, sold by Le Clercq de Chateauvieux to Jean L. Souffrice, Neuilly-sur-Seine [see note 3]; 1934, sold by Souffrice, through the Marie Sterner Gallery, New York, to the MFA for $35,000. (Accession Date: April 5, 1934) - - - - - - Thomas Jefferson French (Paris), 1789 Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741–1828 54.5 cm (21 7/16 in.) Stone; marble Signed: Signed and dated “houdon f 1789″. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston -     - -     François-Marie Arouet, called Voltaire French, 1780 Marble Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften Archiv - - Jean-Antoine HOUDON (1741-1828) Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, known as; 1694-1778), writer 1778 - - Jean-Antoine HOUDON (1741-1828) Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, known as; 1694-1778), writer 1778 - - Jean-Antoine HOUDON – Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828 Voltaire (1694 – 1778) 1778 -   - Jean-Antoine HOUDON – Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828 Voltaire (1694 – 1778) 1778 “One of the finest attributes of the very difficult art of statuary is to preserve shapes accurately and render nearly imperishable the image of the men who have brought their country glory or happiness.” Houdon’s definition applies perfectly to his portrait of Voltaire, who was a veritable icon of the Enlightenment. He reproduced it many times, but Voltaire never lost his sardonic smile or the twinkle in his eye.               Voltaire and Houdon Voltaire symbolizes the spirit of the Enlightenment par excellence. These days he is known as a philosopher and a champion of tolerance, but he was also a famous playwright, poet, and historian. After twenty years in exile in Ferney (Switzerland), he returned to Paris in February 1778, at the age of eighty-three and in poor health, and was given a triumphal welcome. When he attended a performance of his play Irene at the Comédie-Française, his statue was crowned with laurels and the patriarch was given a standing ovation. Houdon, who had not met him before, managed several sittings before Voltaire died on 30 May 1778. Of the many busts made of Voltaire, only the bare-headed one by Houdon wholly pleased the great man. Houdon also molded Voltaire’s funerary mask. He used all this material to produce several types of bust, two of which are represented in the Louvre, and reproduced them in various media (marble, bronze, terracotta, plaster). Voltaire in a Wig This bust shows the philosopher in contemporary clothing and wearing a wig, which is incidentally rather outmoded. It portrays a man rooted in his times, prepared to fight for his ideas, such as the rehabilitation of the unjustly condemned Protestant Calas. Houdon tried to capture Voltaire’s physical appearance and psychological presence, but did not seek to idealize him. He made no attempt to mask the signs of age: the rings under his eyes, the wrinkles and deep folds on his cheeks, the impression of withered skin . . . But the portrait radiates with intelligence and mischief: the eyes twinkling under the bulging brow and the compressed lips suggest ironic wit. The Louvre’s marble bust comes from the sale after the sculptor’s death in 1828. In another version, Voltaire’s jacket is swathed in draperies (Comédie-Française). Voltaire Bare-headed Another type of bust uses the iconography initiated for Diderot. Bare-headed, with neither jacket nor drapery, with the torso cut off, he is shown in the manner of the ancient philosophers, giving an impression of timelessness. The old man’s fragility is more apparent. The wrinkles on his face are deeper. There are no clothes to hide the stringy tendons in his neck. His bald head suggests a skull. But his eyes and lips have lost none of their vivacity: behind the domed forehead, the philosopher’s mind is just as sharp. The bust in the Louvre, a gift from Countess Biver, is of outstanding quality which proves it was executed by Houdon himself. The marble has been worked with great delicacy, particularly noticeable in the rendering of a few wisps of hair on his temples. The Louvre also has a lost-wax bronze cast of the same type of bust. A third type of bust, with the philosopher’s scarf wrapped around his head, is derived from the seated statue of Voltaire sculpted for the Comédie Française (in situ). On the pedestal there are two low-relief masks symbolizing tragedy and comedy. Although Voltaire was represented by the greatest artists, painters or sculptors, Houdon’s portrait dominates as the quintessential image not only of the writer but of the philosophic spirit of the 18th century.         - - François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire (Paris, 1694 – Paris, 1778) 1778 Bronze, fondu à la cire perdue H. : 0,35 m. ; L. : 0,20 m. ; P. : 0,21 m. Variante sans perruque ni indication de vêtement, ce buste fut découvert en 1871 par le sculpteur Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume (1816-1892), « dans les décombres d’un monument public » incendié lors de la Commune de Paris. - - François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire (Paris, 1694 – Paris, 1778) 1778 Bronze, fondu à la cire perdue H. : 0,35 m. ; L. : 0,20 m. ; P. : 0,21 m. - - François-Marie Arouet, dit Voltaire (Paris, 1694 – Paris, 1778) 1778 Bronze, fondu à la cire perdue H. : 0,35 m. ; L. : 0,20 m. ; P. : 0,21 m. - - Hair Houdon distinguished himself from other 18th-century sculptors in his manner of carving hair. He fashioned it as a unit, sculpting it in masses, instead of trying to carve each strand. De Biré is depicted here with his hair dressed as if it were a short wig, and a queue (ponytail) tied with a ribbon lying down his back. Houdon makes it clear that de Biré wears his own hair. Compare this with Houdon’s portrait of Voltaire (below), who is depicted with an actual wig, which was fashionable at the time. A sharp line distinguishes the wig from the skin around the face, and the ordered lines in the smooth curls create an unnatural, clumped appearance. - Houdon and America During the American Revolutionary War era, Houdon sculpted many prominent heroes of the fledgling republic. His statue of George Washington stands in the capitol building in Richmond, Virginia—a commission awarded at the recommendation of his friends Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Houdon’s portrait of Jefferson was chosen in 1938 for the American nickel, still in circulation today. - - Robert Fulton French, 1803–4 Marble Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Dexter M. Ferry Jr. Robert Fulton (1765–1815) was an American engineer, inventor, and artist. With Robert R. Livingston, Fulton developed the first commercially successful steamboat in America.   - Jean-Antoine Houdon (Versailles, 1741-Paris, 1828) Buffon (1707-1788) Probably the marble shown at the 1793 Salon - - Jean-Antoine Houdon (Versailles, 1741-Paris, 1828) Buffon (1707-1788) Probably the marble shown at the 1793 Salon - - Jean-Antoine HOUDON – Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828   Buffon (1707-1788) Buffon, botanist and man of the Enlightenment, was in his time as famous as Voltaire. Houdon portrays him in the antique style, with a rounded truncation of the naked torso, a type he had inaugurated with his bust of Diderot. He imbues his portrait with a vivacity that emphasizes the 74-year-old man’s intellectual and physical vigor -               A scientist famous throughout Europe The naturalist Georges Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon (he received the title from Louis XV in 1771), was appointed Keeper of the Jardin du Roi, the king’s botanical garden (which later became the Museum of Natural History), in 1739. From 1744 to 1788, he wrote his monumental Histoire naturelle, genérale et particulière, which covered the whole of the mineral world and the animal kingdom. A man of the Enlightenment, he believed scientific knowledge should be based on experimentation. The publication of his Epoques de la nature in 1779, written in a clear, noble style, won him the admiration of educated circles all over Europe, including several kings. Empress Catherine II of Russia considered Buffon the equal of Newton, and she commissioned Houdon to sculpt a marble bust of the naturalist. The German writer Melchior Grimm, a friend of Diderot who kept European courts informed of intellectual developments in Paris, acted as her intermediary. In 1782 the portrait was sent to Saint Petersburg and installed in the Hermitage Museum. Buffon, too old to make the journey, delegated his son to take it there for him. A marble copy, probably the Louvre sculpture in veined marble, was presented at the 1783 Salon. A prodigious output The great portraitists of the time had already portrayed the scientist: the painter François-Hubert Drouais in 1761, the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Defernex in 1772, and above all Augustin Pajou, First Sculptor to the King, in 1776. The latter received a commission from the Directorate of the King’s Buildings for a monumental full-length statue. He depicted Buffon in the antique style, as a draped nude looking down over the animal kingdom. He made three busts from it, in various costumes, including one in the “French style,” i.e., in contemporary costume (Louvre). An old man full of vigor Houdon also portrayed Buffon in the antique style, with a naked torso whose rounded truncation cuts off the shoulders. He had already used this habitual way of portraying philosophers for his busts of Voltaire and Diderot (Louvre). But whereas Pajou sought to convey Buffon’s genius, Houdon shows the man. Although he has not idealized the 74-year-old scientist, his powerful face and neck give him a vigorous air. He is not wearing a wig, and his natural hair is curled at the temples and tied in a bow. The complete absence of accessories allows one to concentrate on the face. The scientist’s authority and superior intellect are conveyed by the almost haughty way he holds his head, his noble, prominent forehead and his keen eye. The bust is animated: the head is pivoting to the left (accentuating the neck tendon) and the lips are half open, as if he were about to speak. The work met with such success that Houdon reproduced it in different materials, including one in the “French style,” with his shirt open at the neck. - - Houdon and the European Courts Houdon held the title of sculpteur du roi (sculptor to the king) during the reign of Louis XVI. Although he received very few French royal commissions, Houdon’s fame spread throughout Europe through enthusiastic recommendations of Enlightenment thinkers and visits made to his Paris studio by traveling aristocrats, diplomats, and royalty who commissioned their portraits from him. - - Condorcet (1743 – 1794) Vers 1785 Terre cuite H. : 0,59 m. ; L. : 0,49 m. ; Pr. : 0,31 m. Le buste est le modèle du marbre daté de 1785 (Philadelphie, Philosophical Society). Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet, philosophe et mathématicien, entra à l’Académie des Sciences en 1769, et en devint le secrétaire. Il participa à la rédaction de l’Encyclopédie. Sous la Révolution, il fut député à l’Assemblée législative et à la Convention. Arrêté sous la Terreur comme girondin, il mourut en prison. - - Condorcet (1743 – 1794) Vers 1785 Terre cuite H. : 0,59 m. ; L. : 0,49 m. ; Pr. : 0,31 m. - - Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré French, 1785 Marble 2003.102 The J. Paul Getty Museum Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré (1727–1803) was a financial administrator during the reign of Louis XVI. Houdon’s marble was likely commissioned to commemorate de Biré’s new position. As a financial minister to the king, de Biré endured much scrutiny during the Revolution—he was removed from his official post and endured several arrests and imprisonments—but managed to survive with his head intact. - - Bust of Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré French, Paris, 1785 Marble 2 ft. 2 5/8 in. x 1 ft. 9 5/8 in. x 1 ft. 1 11/16 in. - Through exacting realism, Jean-Antoine Houdon convincingly captured the skin’s texture, and the underlying bone and musculature of this eminent figure. The sitter’s attire and hair–styled with a long ponytail at the back–indicate his status as a high-ranking French government official. But Monsieur de Biré’s personality also shows through in the bust’s subtle features. The wrinkles around his eyes and the soft jowls that brush his scarf reveal advanced age. Yet his sparkling eyes and the upturned corners of his lips, which hint at a smile, convey a warm disposition. To accurately render Biré’s likeness, Houdon measured his head and face with calipers, and probably made a plaster “life mask” for reference. He probably modeled the bust first in clay, and then made a plaster cast. From those initial studies, Houdon would have produced this final marble version, which he gave to the sitter. Biré may have commissioned the bust to celebrate his newly appointed position as a treasury official under Louis XVI. - - Button Here, Houdon captures a sense of the layers underneath the surface with this button, which pulls against the cloth of de Biré’s vest. - - Coat Here, Houdon masterfully distinguishes the intricate stitching of the button holes against the heavy felt of de Biré’s coat - - Linen Jabot Houdon was very conscious of texture, as is seen in the variety of material described in de Biré’s clothing. Here, Houdon captures the delicate linen of the double-edged ruffled jabot emerging from the vest. - - Eyes Houdon did not want his portraits to have the blank stares typical of ancient statuary, as seen in the contemporary bust of Louis XV below. Instead, he animated the expression with his own invention for carving eyes. Houdon hollowed out a cavity for the iris, used striations to create a radiating pattern, and indicated the pupil in relief. He even distinguished light eyes from dark eyes by giving light irises radiating incisions that catch the light, and defining the pupils with small depressions. For dark irises, he carved into a deep bowl, with the pupils in shadow at the bottom. Houdon’s ingenuity caused one 18th-century writer to remark, “Monsieur Houdon may be the first sculptor who knew how to do eyes.” - - Mouth There is unique liveliness in Houdon’s portraits. Without compromising the integrity and formality of the portrait, Houdon has pursed de Biré’s lips to indicate the beginnings of a smile, which reveals de Biré’s humanity and sense of humor. - - Tool MarksWhen carving in marble, an artist uses a variety of tools, including chisels that are pointed, toothed, and flat. Houdon was careful to hide his tool marks to create a sense of naturalism. On the back, however, he often left obvious signs of tooling, like the striations seen here that were created by a tooth chisel.Intentionally unrefined, these marks are in sharp contrast to the illusory surfaces of the rest of the sculpture, and may have been Houdon’s way of bringing attention to his mastery of the medium.- - Pointing Marks Before carving a work in marble, Houdon would often start making a model in plaster or terracotta. Using the measurements of the model, he would then use a pointing machine, like the one seen below, to mark a block of marble so he could drill holes into it to the appropriate depth. When he chose not to carve the full depth of the drilled hole, pointing marks (small concave holes) remain in the finished marble surface. “The Pointer at Work” from Technique of Sculpture, by William Ordway Partridge, Boston, 1895   Houdon and the Enlightenment A gifted artist who was sympathetic to the ideas of his time, Houdon became the preferred sculptor of leaders and artists of the Enlightenment. Influential thinkers such as Denis Diderot and Voltaire promoted the work of the young artist, greatly expanding the reach of Houdon’s career. -

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French, dated 1778
Painted plaster
Abbaye royale de Châalis, Institut de France

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Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) was a French philosopher, writer, and political theorist of the Enlightenment. His philosophy marked the end of the Age of Reason and the onset of the French Revolution. He endorsed a return to nature, virtue, a renewed interest in children, and the universal right to liberty and happiness.

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Diderot (1713 – 1784)
Terre cuite. Salon de 1771
H. :0,46 m. ; L. : 0,26 m. ; Pr. : 0,22 m.

Diderot, qui apprécia l’oeuvre -il écrivit à son propos “Très ressemblant”- est représenté discrètement à l’antique, sans perruque et sans vêtement. On connaît de ce buste d’autres versions, en marbre ou en bronze, qui reprennent cette formule.

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Diderot (1713 – 1784)
Terre cuite. Salon de 1771
H. :0,46 m. ; L. : 0,26 m. ; Pr. : 0,22 m.

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Madame Houdon (1765 – 1823)
Plâtre original. Sans doute exposé au Salon de 1787
H. : 0,48 m. ; L. : 0,39 m. ; Pr. : 0,26 m.

Marie-Ange-Cécile Langlois épousa Houdon en 1786.

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Madame Houdon (1765 – 1823)
Plâtre original. Sans doute exposé au Salon de 1787
H. : 0,48 m. ; L. : 0,39 m. ; Pr. : 0,26 m.

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Alexandre Brongniart

French, 1777
Terracotta
Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Sculptures

Alexandre Brongniart (1770–1847) grew up to be a French naturalist and geologist who coined the term jurassic. He became professor at the Sorbonne and Museum of Natural History, and director of the porcelain manufactory at Sèvres

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French, dated 1777
Terracotta
Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Sculptures

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Jean-Antoine HOUDON – Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828
Alexandre Brongniart (1770 – 1847)
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Bust of Louise Brongniart

French, about 1777
Marble
H: 18 1/8 in.

The Brongniart children by Houdon The busts of the Brongniart children established the sculptor’s marvelous ability to depict the freshness and innocence of childhood without sentimentalism, expressing the personality of his subjects. The two busts were designed to contrast with each other. They turn their heads in opposite directions. Alexandre is dressed; Louise is nude. The liveliness of the boy is reflected in his unkempt hair, open jacket, mischievous look, and in the more vigorous modeling of the face. Louise seems more poised: she still has the round cheeks of a very young child, and her hair is carefully swept up in a bun secured by a band with a bow on the top. The color of the eyes is conveyed by differing treatments: Alexandre’s irises, rendered by two concentric rows of radiating incisions, give the impression of light-colored eyes, whereas Louise’s irises are deeply hollowed out, the resulting shadow imparting a darker, more serious look. The sculptor has left a small element in relief at the edge of the pupil to catch the light, which heightens the lifelike nature of the gaze. Houdon has not been surpassed – except perhaps by himself – in his portraits of his own children, Sabine (Louvre), Anne-Ange (Louvre), and Claudine (Worcester Art Museum). These two terra-cotta portraits were presented at the 1777 Salon and became very popular. Many marble and bronze versions of them were made, and they were reproduced in Sèvres biscuit porcelain and in terra-cotta. The busts remained in the Brongniart family until the Louvre purchased them – Louise’s portrait in 1898 and Alexandre’s in 1900.

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Anne-Ange Houdon (1788 – 1843) âgée de quinze mois
Jean-Antoine HOUDON

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Modèle du monument funéraire du prince Alexandre Mikhaïlovitch Golitsyne, non réalisé en marbre
Terre cuite
H. : 0,42 m. ; L. : 0,5 m. ; Pr. : 0,17 m.

Salon de 1777.
Le prince Golitsyne, membre d’une illustre famille francophile qui commanda à Houdon d’autres monuments funéraires, était vice-chancelier de Russie.

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Monument du coeur du comte d’Ennery
1781
Marbre
H. : 1,76 m. ; L. : 2,26 m. ; Pr. : 0,5 m.

Le monument évoque la famille du défunt Victor Charpentier, comte d’Ennery, gouverneur des colonies françaises d’Amérique, mort à Saint-Domingue en 1776 : à droite sa veuve et sa fille, à gauche sa soeur, la comtesse de Blot. Lui-même est représenté par son profil dans le médaillon. Le tombeau devait être placé dans l’église Saint-Aubin d’Ennery, près de Pontoise.

After the Revolution
Houdon adapted to the demands of rapidly changing political and social trends. By the end of the French Revolution, his commissions waned, yet the entrepreneurial sculptor remained active until the end of Napoléon’s reign. Despite declining prospects and increasing criticism, Houdon produced for the Empire some of the masterpieces of Neoclassicism. In his late portraits, Houdon embraced the current idealism and revival of antiquity while maintaining the character and essence of his sitters.

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French, dated 1806 Terracotta Musée des Beaux-Arts, DijonNapoléon Bonaparte (1769–1821), self-declared emperor of France, rose to power with successful military campaigns against the French monarchy and France’s neighbors, which expanded the French Empire to include France, Belgium, Holland, Croatia, Dalmatia, and parts of Italy. Napoléon’s invasion of Russia, however, was disastrous, and he was forced to abdicate. In 1815 he was exiled to the island of Saint Helena off the coast of Africa.

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Entry for December 26, 2006

Jean Antoine Houdon, 1741 – 1828, -sculptor, French, – Ganymeade ( Morpheus ) (LifeSize sculpture), Plaster, Gotha, Thuringia, Germany

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Voltaire
1781
Terra-cotta
Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France

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Bust of a Child
1791
Plaster, height 40 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, Louise Brongniart, 1777
Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Jean Antoine Houdon, French, 1741 – 1828
Louise Brongniart, 1777, marble, 37.7 x 25.3 x 19.5 cm (14 1/8 x 9 7/8 x 7 5/8 in.) , Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741 – 1828
Alexandre Brongniart, 1777
marble, 39.2 x 28.7 x 19 cm (15 3/8 x 11 1/4 x 7 3/8 in.)
Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, Alexandre Brongniart, 1777, Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, Bust of a Child, 1777, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, County Durham, England

White marble bust of a child, on engine-turned gilt-bronze socle. The head is inclined slightly forwards and turned to the right. The hair is taken back from the face and dressed in thick curls down the back of the head. A tiny, almost square projection to the left of the iris in each eye.
Size: Height: 45 cm; Width: 24.5 cm

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, Giuseppe Balsamo, Comte di Cagliostro, 1786, Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1741 – 1828
Giuseppe Balsamo, Comte di Cagliostro, 1786
marble, without base: 62.9 x 58.9 x 34.3 cm (24 3/4 x 23 x 13 1/2 in.)
Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

From the Tour: 18th- and 19th-Century France — Neoclassicism

One of his contemporaries noted that Houdon, the most successful portrait sculptor of his day, “pushed truth to the bitter end.” This bust captures the fleshy and disheveled scoundrel Cagliostro, who bilked the courts of Europe as an alchemist and mesmerizer. He was implicated in the notorious Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which galvanized public opinion against the French royal family when it appeared that Marie-Antoinette had purchased an extravagant necklace at a time of strained public finances. In fact, an ambitious dupe had made the purchase in hopes of currying the queen’s favor. Cagliostro was suspected of acting as a go-between, and though no charges were proven, he was expelled from France in 1786, the same year this bust is dated. He died in a prison in Rome about fifteen years later, condemned by the pope as a heretic.

Cagliostro’s spirited portrait contrasts with Houdon’s cool and impersonal Diana. Cagliostro’s eyes, for example, are drilled to indicate the pupil, whereas Diana’s blank, undifferentiated gaze reveals neither spirit nor human emotion. Houdon copied Diana from his 1776 plaster model for a full-length statue, a practice he followed frequently.

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After Jean-Antoine Houdon, French (1741 – 1828)
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), c. 1880
Bronze
45 cm x 36.8 cm x 31.9 cm, actual
Fogg Art Museum, Gift of Joseph Y. Jeanes, Jr., 1977.15, Boston, Massachussettes

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Jean Antoine Houdon, Bust of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Made in Paris, France, 1779, Jean-Antoine Houdon, French (active Paris), 1741 – 1828, Marble, 21 x 13 1/2 x 10 inches (53.3 x 34.3 x 25.4 cm), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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John Paul Jones by Jean-Antoine Houdon,

Bronze, Modeled 1780, Cast 1904

Overall (bust) measurement Height: 27.13 inches (68.9 cm) Width: 19.5 inches (49.5 cm) Depth: 10.88 inches (27.6 cm),   Created in 1904, this bronze bust of John Paul Jones was a gift of the United States Naval Academy Museum to the U.S. Congress. The Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters in Paris had commissioned French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1780 to model a marble portrait bust of its illustrious member at age 33. So pleased was the naval hero with Houdon’s effort that over several years he ordered some 16 plaster replicas from Houdon. Jones presented these replicas to distinguished friends, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and the Marquis de Lafayette. The Senate’s bronze copy was cast from one of these important plaster portraits, now in the collection of the National Academy of Design in New York City. The Joint Committee on the Library accepted the bust of Jones and designated that it be placed in the east lobby on the gallery floor of the Senate wing. The gift was made through the office of Secretary of the Navy John L. Sullivan.

Signature (on subject’s truncated right arm): Houdon 1780

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1786/1793, Gift of Robert L. McNeil, Jr., in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art

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Jean-Antoine Houdon, George Washington, 1786/1793, Gift of Robert L. McNeil, Jr., in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, plaster, height, including base: 53 cm (20 7/8 in.)

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Jean Antoine Houdon, George Washington
1788, Marble, lifesize, State Capitol, Richmond, Virginia

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Jean-Antoine HOUDON,

France 1741 – 1828

Buste de jeune fille, [Bust of a girl] [Buste de jeune fille] 1791,

marble

43.8 (h) x 34.6 (w) x 21.0 (d) cm

signed and dated verso, “Houdon f. 1791″,

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bought through Gerald Paget, New York, by the Australian National Gallery, April 1984

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Jean Antoine Houdon, Diana the Huntress, 1776-1795, terracotta, 75 1/2 in. (191.77 cm)
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1939. , New York City, N.Y.

Swift virgin goddess of moon and hunt, Diana alights poised on one foot, a technical tour de force. The life-size terracotta, supported by interior metal armatures, is constructed of at least ten separately fired sections. Many versions of the Diana were made by Houdon and his workshop, in plaster, metal, and marble, life-size, reduced, and of the bust alone. Probably the earliest surviving example is a plaster dated 1776, in the Schlossmuseum, Gotha. The Frick piece, which is signed but not dated, is believed to have been produced several years later. The arrow once held in Diana’s right hand is now missing, and her wooden bow is a replacement.

Houdon thought about famous antecedents when designing his regal goddess, crowned with a crescent moon. He remembered the Apollo Belvedere, several well-known classical examples of Diana, and images of the sixteenth-century favorite of Henri II, Diane de Poitiers, who inspired so many similarly elegant, long-limbed Dianas. The pose of Giovanni Bologna’s Mercury also became absorbed into the delicate equilibrium of his daringly balanced statue. Indeed, French and Florentine mannerism seem to dominate Houdon’s ideal of an aloof beauty, with her blank-eyed mask and smoothly abstract, elongated body. Not even a wisp of cloth interrupts the sleek nudity, to Houdon’s contemporaries a shocking indecency only intensified by the flesh tones of the surface.

Large-scale terracottas were common in antiquity and in certain regions of Italy, such as Bologna (where Algardi learned his m*tier). In eighteenth-century France, the pastel hues and subtle malleability of baked clay made it a popular medium for small sculptures, but a terracotta statue so large and so precariously posed as this Diana was unprecedented. As in the virtuoso carving of his marble portrait busts, Houdon explored the frontiers of his chosen medium, again reaching beyond their traditional limitations.

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Jean Antoine Houdon, The Comtesse du Cayla, 1777, marble, 21 1/4 in. (53.98 cm)
Henry Clay Frick Bequest. , New York City, N.Y.

In 1772 ƒlisabeth-Suzanne de Jaucourt (1755-1816) married her cousin Fran*ois-Hercule-Philippe-ƒtienne de Baschi, Comte du Cayla. Five years later Houdon portrayed her as a carefree nymph with grape leaves circling her breast and windswept hair. The guise of a bacchante may make playful reference to her husband’s last name, Baschi, which was linked by creative etymology to Bacchus; Bacchus and a bacchante supported the family coat of arms. A plaster version of Houdon’s portrait was shown in the Salon of 1775; the present bust, exhibited two years later, is signed and dated 1777 on the back of the stand.

Through long tradition from ancient times, portraits, especially those carved in marble, were intended to confer upon the subject an approximation of immortality. Hence it was important to convey a notion of permanence and durability, in addition to the sitter’s high character. Houdon’s portrait of the Comtesse du Cayla seems deliberately to seek for opposites of these traditional desiderata. Lightness and movement, the fragility of time and substance are captured here in lacy stone. The frothy hair pinned with leaves and roses and the vine leaves worn over the shoulder are deeply undercut, emphasizing the brittleness and translucent qualities of marble. The young woman turns, a fleeting come-hither expression on her still demure, slightly smiling face. Her eyes appear to sparkle; the irises are dark holes above which a sliver of marble gives the illusion of bright reflection. Houdon obviously had studied Bernini during his years in Rome, but his consummate technique, refined imagination, and subtle interpretation of personality seem specifically products of eighteenth-century France.
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exhibition is organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the National Gallery of Art, Washington; and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, and l’Etablissement public du musée et du domaine national de Versailles. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. – Below:

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Myths and Allegories
From the time of the Renaissance, French palaces and gardens were traditionally adorned with sculptures of mythological and allegorical figures, the best-known example being the palace and park of Versailles. In the mid-18th century, a vogue to redesign gardens, complete with fountains, follies, and sculpture created an increased demand for indoor and outdoor sculpture. These trends benefited Houdon immensely.

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Jean Antoine Houdon, The Kiss Given (Le Baiser donné), French, dated 1778, Marble, Lent by Lynda and Stewart Resnick, Beverly Hills, California

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Many enlightened patrons appreciated Houdon’s sensual sculpture, adorning their palaces and gardens with his works, including The Kiss Given (Le Baiser donné), the equally erotic bronze Winter, and bronze sculptures of Diana and Apollo, which are reunited in this exhibition for the first time since 1796.

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Jean Antoine Houdon, Male Figure, The head of the male figure, with his classical features and short curly hair, recalls Houdon’s earlier work, the Morpheus below from the salon of 1771, which secured his entry into the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.

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Morpheus (detail), by Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1777, Photograph: Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Art Resource, NY

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Jean Antoine Houdon, Morpheus, French, 1777, Marble, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Département des Sculptures

Andreas Johnsen Kolberg sculptor Drunkin Faun

Andreas Johnsen Kolberg sculptor Drunkin Faun

Andreas Johnsen Kolberg En bakkant ridende på en panter. 1843

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Deutsches Eck, Emperor’s Wilhelm I.-Denkmal, The equestrian statue has of the sculptor Emil Hundrieser decorates., It is based on the plans of the architect Bruno Schmitz 

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Hundrieser, Emil

* 3/13/1846 in Königsberg; † 1/30/1911 in Berlin.
Sculptor

Hundrieser was born on the 13th March, 1846 in Königsberg. He studied from 1865 to 1868 to the Berliner (Royal) academy of the pedagogic arts sculpture and was there master-class pupil Rudolf Siemerings. In 1867 a Paris’s stay and in 1868 his first exhibition of the Bacchus followed in the academy. Since 1873 as an independent sculptor active, he devoted himself to the production of numerous decoration figures for facades and architecture creation. In 1892 became Hundrieser member of the royal academy and received in 1895 a professorship. He became in 1905 to Siemering the manager of the smoke museum (Klosterstrasse 76). H. created, Gas at first influenced from the naturalism of the sculptures Siemerings, later in Reflektion of the works from Pure-sweetly, numerous monuments and plants for public buildings, and a. for the palace Borsig. From him the monument comes for Andreas Schlüter (1882-1883) for the TH in Charlottenburg, the bronze statue of emperor Friedrich III in Merseburg and the monument of the queen Luise (both in 1895) in Berlin, the bleed monument emperor Wilhelm I. on the Kyffhäuser (1896) and the gigantic statue of the Berolina (1895) which earlier on the Alexander’s space (before in the version of 1889 on the Potsdam space on the occasion of the visit Umberto I. of Italy was in Berlin). Further the emperor’s monument comes for Wilhelm I. on the German corner in Koblenz of Hundrieser which originated in 1897. He died on the 30th January, 1911 in Berlin. He is buried on land-specific park cemetery to light field (Steglitz). His son Hans Hundrieser (1872 – 1929) followed his father and likewise became a bekanner sculptor.

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Urban Sculpture

Kaliningrad / king’s mountain, hothouse for Seemaenner/Koenigsberger stock exchange – two sandstone lions with coat of arms signs in the front stairs of the building, made in 1875 from the sculptor Emil Hundrieser

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Entry for January 02, 2007

Kyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia, Germany – Nikolaus Geiger, – SculptorThis is overexposed in order to show the technique (as much as possible with a photo) of the glyptek form – geometric faceted shape that is employed by Geiger to acheive the content of the shape. If one looks much further near the end of the picture list – there is a normal exposure photo of the whole seated Barbarossa section of this monument – showing the effect of the sculpture with the shadows playing on the form.  

Nikolaus Geiger (1849-97) was a German sculptor and painter, born at Lauingen, Bavaria. He was a pupil of Joseph Knabl at the Munich Academy. In 1873 he went to Berlin and soon became known through ornamental work in the Tiele-Winckler Palace. After a visit to Italy he studied painting in Munich and in 1884 returned to Berlin, where he was awarded a gold medal in 1886, was elected member of the academy in 1893, and was made professor in 1896. St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin contains examples of his work. He produced the high-relief “Adoration of the Magi” (1894). His painting, “The Communion of the Saints,” on the ceiling of St. Hedwig’s is his most noteworthy painting. He sculpted Frederick Barbarossa for the Kyffhäuser monument; a statue of Work for the Reichsbank building in Berlin; and “Centaur and Nymph,” for the National Gallery. Geiger produced a frieze in relief for the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Indianapolis.

Nikolaus Geiger – (1849 Lauingen / Bavaria – in 1897 Berlin) Neo Hellenistic / one of the most interesting sculptors of the 19th. Century – emperor Barbarossa, emperor Wilhelm– Thuringen, Germany In 1861 stonecutter apprenticeship in Lauingen – alongside vocational school Augsburg – leaves prematurely the apprenticeship – academy. Munich – In 1866 – in 1872 Kgl. Academy. With Joseph Knabl and in private studios active. 1873 changes after to Berlin – Modelleur for stucco ornaments. In 1878-1879 Rome – in 1880 Paris – in 1881 Vienna – in 1881 – in 1884 Munich (painting study). In 1893 member of the academy. Of the arts Berlin – in 1896 Kgl. Professor of the Berlin academy. Married with the sculptor Henny Geiger-Spiegel. – Secessions – war memorial (from 1888, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A.), grave Amalie Hoffman, about 1889 (gest in 1889 – since 1882 owner engineer Hoffman, Berlin, churchyard Saint Mattew – municipality), frieze and group (1886, Berlin, Dresdner Bank) – tympanum <adoration of Holy three kings> (Vollend. In 1898 from Henny Geiger-Spiegel; Berlin, Saint Hedwigs – church);

Nikolaus Geiger – (1849 Lauingen / Bayern – 1897 Berlin) Neo Hellenistic / one of the most interesting sculptors of the 19^th. Century - Kaiser Barbarossa, Kaiser Wilhelm – Thuringen, Germany 1861 Steinmetzlehre in Lauingen – nebenher Gewerbeschule Augsburg – verläßt vorzeitig die Lehre – Akad. München – 1866 – 1872 Kgl. Akad. Bei Joseph Knabl und in Privatateliers tätig. 1873 Wechsel nach nach Berlin – Modelleur für Stuckornamente. 1878 -1879 Rom – 1880 Paris – 1881 Wien – 1881 – 1884 München (Malereistudium). 1893 Mitglied der Akad. Der Künste Berlin – 1896 Kgl. Professor der Berliner Akad. Verheiratet mit der Bildhauerin Henny Geiger-Spiegel. – Secessions – Kriegerdenkmal (ab 1888, Indianapolis, Indiana,U.S.A.) , Grab Amalie Hoffman, um 1889 (gest 1889 – seit 1882 Besitzer Ing. Hoffman, Berlin, Kirchhof St. Matthäus – Gemeinde) , Fries und Gruppe (1886, Berlin, Dresdner Bank) – Giebelfeld <Anbetung der Hl. drei Könige> (Vollend. 1898 von Henny Geiger-Spiegel; Berlin, St. Hedwigs – Kirche) ;

 

http://www.kyffnet.de/Ausflugsziele/Kyffhauserdenkmal/kyffhauserdenkmal.html

 

 

• “Centaur mit tanzender Nymphe” (vor 1897), Bronze, im Bestand der Nationalgalerie Berlin
• “Kopf einer alten Frau” (vor 1897), Bronze, Bronze, im Bestand der Nationalgalerie Berlin
• “Kopf eines jungen Mädchens” (vor 1897), Bronze, im Bestand der Nationalgalerie Berlin
• “Nach dem Sündenfall” (1896), Bronze, im Bestand der Nationalgalerie Berlin
• Kaiser Barbarossa (für das Kyffhäuser monument)

Barbarossa

Barbarossa

Grave Carl Hofmann, architect: Bruno Schmitz, weeping woman by Nikolaus Geiger, (de:Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof Berlin)

• Hochfries “Die Armee” für das “Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument Indianapolis
• Giebelfeld der St. Hedwigskathedrale Berlin
• Zahlreiche weitere Zeugnisse seiner Arbeit wurden jedoch im 2. Weltkrieg zerstört (u.a. Skulpturen in der “Villa Saloschin” (Berlin), die lebensgrosse Statue “Arbeit” für die Reichsbank in Berlin, Figurenschmuck im Gebäude der Dresdner Bank (Berlin))

 

 Paintings

• “Die Sünderin” (1884), 1898 durch die Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin angekauft
• Deckengemälde “Anbetung des Christkinds” in der St. Hedwigskathedrale Berlin
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 Kyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia, Germany – Nikolaus Geiger, – Sculptor

This is overexposed in order to show the technique (as much as possible with a photo) of the glyptek form – geometric faceted shape that is employed by Geiger to acheive the content of the shape. If one looks much further near the end of the picture list – there is a normal exposure photo of the whole seated Barbarossa section of this monument – showing the effect of the sculpture with the shadows playing on the form.

 

Nikolaus Geiger (1849-97) was a German sculptor and painter, born at Lauingen, Bavaria. He was a pupil of Joseph Knabl at the Munich Academy. In 1873 he went to Berlin and soon became known through ornamental work in the Tiele-Winckler Palace. After a visit to Italy he studied painting in Munich and in 1884 returned to Berlin, where he was awarded a gold medal in 1886, was elected member of the academy in 1893, and was made professor in 1896. St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin contains examples of his work. He produced the high-relief “Adoration of the Magi” (1894). His painting, “The Communion of the Saints,” on the ceiling of St. Hedwig’s is his most noteworthy painting. He sculpted Frederick Barbarossa for the Kyffhäuser monument; a statue of Work for the Reichsbank building in Berlin; and “Centaur and Nymph,” for the National Gallery. Geiger produced a frieze in relief for the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Indianapolis.

 

Kyffhäuser Denkmal, South West of Leipzig, Thuringia, Germany  

http://www.kyffnet.de/Ausflugsziele/Kyffhauserdenkmal/kyffhauserdenkmal.html

Here is the text below from the web site above translated to English.

 

 

Already immediately after the demise Wilhelm I. above all the German warrior’s unions presented suggestions to the establishment of monumental reminiscent sites to the emperor. The Reichstag had caught the 3/20/1888 a decision to the establishment of a monument for the late emperor. The secretary of the German warrior’s alliance, privy council Dr. Alfred Westphal, suggested the Kyffhäuser as a location, because emperor Wilhelm I. has fulfilled the legend and emperor has released red-beard. Other considered locations were among other things Goslar and Metz. The government building surveyors Heyden and Kyllmann recommended in her certificate from December, 1888 the location Kyffhäuser. After the approval for the purposes of the certificate the plans began to the construction of the monument.  The idea for the construction of emperor Wilhelm-Denkmals originated in the admiration of former warriors and soldier for theirs on the 9th March, 1888 – 13 days before his 91-st birthday – as a result of an illness late emperor Wilhelm I., to the first emperor of the 2.German empire resulted in the 1/18/1871. Soon after foundation of the empire became by laying education a connection of Friedrich I. Barbarossa – with which localized for the mountain Kyffhäuser Barbarossasage – to new emperor Wilhelm I. created who was called by this respect also as Barbablanca (white beard).

 

Denkmalsturm Schauseite

Barbarossafigur

 

Already shortly after the completion of the arrangement plans matured to establish a festival site for up to 400,000 visitors to the south below the monument. A positive meteorological certificate for the region and execution sketches of Bruno Schmitz testify from the seriousness of these plans. Nevertheless, the realization failed because of the contradiction of the prince responsible for the area of black castle-Rudolstadt which raised from nature and Jagdschutzgründen objections.During the time of the Weimar republic parts of the interiors of the tower were reshaped, rests of the old castle arrangement were dug out and built for the safekeeping of the finding pieces a small castle museum. On the 6th May, 1939 the Hindenburg’s monument was initiated in the Kyffhäuser by Hermann Hosaeus. The larger-than-life figure was worked from Bavarian porphyry. The statue was removed in 1945, dug out nearby einfundamentiert and in summer, 2004 again.  At the magnificent inauguration celebrations in the 6/18/1896 with more than 30000 participants emperor Wilhelm II as well as numerous famous personalities from policy and nobility also took part.The equestrian statue Wilhelm I. with two Nebenfiguren is above the Barbarossafigur on the show side of the monument. It was created by Prof. Emil Hundrieser in collaboration with copper driver workshop Seitz from Munich (equestrian statue), art workshop Rinckleben from Brunswick (Germanic warriors with wing helmet as a symbol of the military strength and the war) and the art workshop resinous woods from Munich (female figure with writing utensil as a symbol of the history or historiography) and was mounted until shortly before the inauguration celebration. The figures were done from 2-3mm to strong Mansfelder copper. All together were processed for the figure group 8,850 of kg of copper and 8,250 kg of iron for the internal supporting construction. The statue reaches a height of 9.7 ms. Both lower lines were removed in 1945 from the former base inscription “ Wilhelms I., the founder of the empire, the German warriors ”.The Barbarossafigur from sandstone controls to about 600 ms ² big cleft Barbarossahof. The sculpture was provided in possibly triple natural size (approx. 6.5 ms high) and orientates itself in her creation by that Legend tradition around the old red-beard. The sculptor Prof. Nicolaus Geiger with other employees took over the works on the Barbarossafigur. Violinist finished the works on the figure in early summer, 1896. The monument storm itself – architectural center of the arrangement – was finished in 1895. Keystone and cross on the stylized emperor’s crown in the tower end were put in the 8/13/1895. With the triply jointed monument storm the arrangement reaches in length of 131 ms, 96-m wide and 81-m height. The tower itself owns a square plan with 20-m side (without base) and rises 57 ms about the middle terrace and he becomes rejuvenated upwards there.By the inauguration appointment, the “emperor’s day” in the 6/18/1896 (anniversary of the victorious move of emperors Wilhelm I. in Berlin after the war against France (1871)) a row was not concluded by construction work yet. These were finished only about a year later in autumn, 1897. For the construction expiry the artistic and constructional whole management Prof. Bruno Schmitz what transferred. In August, in 1890 began the franc houses company rich man’s brook with the preparations to the monument construction. The biggest part of the upper castle ruins what torn without previous scientific admission, a stone quarry what put on and in the mountain slope to occurred clearings. In the next time rose the number of the employees, but the problems in the construction increased. The main problem what the financing except the appointment pressure: the original calculation of 400,000 DM increased on more than 1,450,000 DM which what to be raised by donations. The laying of the foundation stone intended for in 1890 what carried out because of adverse effects of the weather in winter only on the 10th May, in 1892. At that time the terrace constructions were already alp-east finished. For the architectural creation of the monument a competition what organized for exclusively German artists. There existed only few demands to limit the creativity of the competitors. So, e.g., the monument of the far visible position of the location should correspond, the old one Upper castle tower (Barbarossaturm) should be preserved and for the artistic creation a military view suitable form should be chosen. Of the advertising term what the 6/1/1890. From presented 24 drafts there asserted itself the draft of the 32year-old architect Prof. Bruno Schmitz (among other things people’s battle monument Leipzig, emperor Wilhelm-Denkmal Porta Westfalica and Koblenz, Soldiers and Sailors monument Indianapolis) which intended a tower monument with the figure Barbarossas in the base and about that in equestrian statue Wilhelm I. For the construction expiry the artistic and constructional whole management Prof. Bruno Schmitz was transferred. In August, 1890 began the franc houses company Reichenbach with the preparations to the monument construction. The biggest part of the upper castle ruins was torn without previous scientific admission, a stone quarry was put on and in the mountain slope to occurred clearings. In the next time rose the number of the employees, but also the problems in the construction increased. The main problem was the financing except the appointment pressure: the original calculation of 400,000 DM increased on more than 1,450,000 DM which was to be raised by donations. The laying of the foundation stone intended for 1890 was carried out because of adverse effects of the weather in winter only on the 10th May, 1892. At that time the terrace constructions were already almost finished.. For the architectural creation of the monument a competition was organized for exclusively German artists. There existed only few demands not to limit the creativity of the competitors. So, e.g., the monument of the far visible position of the location should correspond, the old one Upper castle tower (Barbarossaturm) should be preserved and for the artistic creation a military view suitable form should be chosen. End of the advertising term was the 6/1/1890. From presented 24 drafts there asserted itself the draft of the 32-year-old architect Prof. Bruno Schmitz (among other things people’s battle monument Leipzig, emperor Wilhelm-Denkmal Porta Westfalica and Koblenz, Soldiers and Sailors monument Indianapolis) which intended a tower monument with the figure Barbarossas in the base and about that an equestrian statue Wilhelm I. .

 

Reiterstandbild

The cinder of Prof. Bruno Schmitz found in 1916 and from Prof. Alfred Westphal in 1924 her last place of rest in the dome hall of the monument.Beside the monument storm located ones Wells if are exposed remains of the former ones Imperial castle Kyffhausen.  After ending of the 2 world war the arrangement should be destroyed as a ” memorial of reactionary disposition “ what was prevented, nevertheless, by A.J.Wyschinski of the Soviet military administration. In 1950 the dismantling of the arrangement was planned again. There were considerations to clear away the crown, to dismantle the equestrian statue and to reshape the arrangement with a constant Beflaggung with the GDR flag. Other plans planned to tear off the monument and to substitute with a monumental statue of a smith or a pair. With the letter of 1/22/1951 to the Thuringian of Prime Minister Eggerath Otto Grotewohl instructed: “… A scrapping of the Kyffhäuser monument does not come at the moment to consideration … ”. With it the arrangement was saved before the destruction.

 

You find further information to the Kyffhäuserdenkmal here. Sie hier.

 

Kyffhäuserdenkmal mit Oberburg and Bodenbild 2006 (Stand 11/2005); Foto: Jens Endmann Nordhausen

 

 

The monument is in the Kyffhäusergebirge at the summit of the castle mountain. They reach the monument, while you arrive from one of the surrounding places erwandern or by the car. Several wide parking lots are available to you below the monument arrangement for this case.

The a total of 81 meter high monument arrangement exists of the monument tower surrounded by three terraces, the castle court Barbarossas with the stone Barbarossafigur as well as the 10 meter high copper equestrian statue Wilhelm I.

 

The Kyffhäusergebirge, also briefly “Kyffhäuser” called, lies to the south of the resin in the federal state Thuringia. With a surface of 60 square kilometers it is the smallest low mountain range of Germany. The mountains: Das Gebirge:

The Kyffhäusergebirge, also briefly “Kyffhäuser” called, lies to the south of the resin in the federal state Thuringia. With a surface of 60 square kilometers it is the smallest low mountain range of Germany.

 

 Nikolaus Geiger (1849-97) was a German sculptor and painter, born at Lauingen, Bavaria. He was a pupil of Joseph Knabl at the Munich Academy. In 1873 he went to Berlin and soon became known through ornamental work in the Tiele-Winckler Palace. After a visit to Italy he studied painting in Munich and in 1884 returned to Berlin, where he was awarded a gold medal in 1886, was elected member of the academy in 1893, and was made professor in 1896. St. Hedwig’s Cathedral in Berlin contains examples of his work. He produced the high-relief “Adoration of the Magi” (1894). His painting, “The Communion of the Saints,” on the ceiling of St. Hedwig’s is his most noteworthy painting. He sculpted Frederick Barbarossa for the Kyffhäuser monument; a statue of Work for the Reichsbank building in Berlin; and “Centaur and Nymph,” for the National Gallery. Geiger produced a frieze in relief for the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Indianapolis.

The Kyffhäuser monument is dedicated to emperor Wilhelm I., to that emperor who created the German empire after the German French war. A monumental monument should be put by the wish of the German warrior’s alliance on the Kyffhäuser to him, because this emperor has fulfilled the legend according to the words of the secretary of the alliance Dr. Westphal “ and emperor has released red-beard ”. The monument should be financed exclusively from donations.

In 1889 all artists of the German empire were called on for delivering drafts for the monument. The kind of the monument was released to the artists, however, the historical Barbarossaturm of the castle arrangement had to be preserved and the monument had to be observable from all sides.

The surcharge received in July, 1890 of the Berliners architect Bruno Schmitz, so that in the same year could be begun with the preparatory works on the Kyffhäuser. As a building material the sandstone which existed on site in sufficient amount was used. Up to 400 people were occupied in the construction of the monument, so that already in 1895 the spire could be put on.

In parallel with the construction work the competition was exclaimed for the equestrian statue and the figure Barbarossas, because here the drafts Schmitz’s been not convincing. For the equestrian statue the drafts of the Berliner of sculptor Emil Hundrieser were selected. The parts of the equestrian statue was done in Munich and Brunswick of Mansfelder coppers, was transported individually to the Kyffhäuser and was mounted there. For the Barbarossafigur a 6.5 meter high model of sculptor Nicolaus Geiger likewise resident in Berlin which was worked on by sculptors Lock and Schwartz on the Kyffhäuser was selected.

On the 18th June, 1896 took place under presence emperor Wilhelm II., to the grandson Wilhelms I., and nearly 20,000 soldiers the monument inauguration. In the next year could be concluded the construction work. The whole building cost amounted to 1.45 Mil. imperial marks, however, were estimated only 800,000 imperial marks.

If it had gone by the will of the architect Bruno Schmitz, the Kyffhäuser would have received other monumental structures as a national monument (see Remark 1).

Architectural eyecatcher of the monument is the 81 ms high tower of three of the terraces is enclosed. The overall length of the monument amounts to 131 ms, its totally width 96 M. on the struggle terrace finds 15,000 humans place. From here one has the best of all overview of the monument tower, the rider fixed image and the Barbarossa figure. From the spire one has a marvelous view on the resin, the golden meadow and the Thuringians forest on clear days. In addition, otherwise the ascent is worth on the tower with its interesting architecture.

Das Kyffhäuser-Denkmal ist Kaiser Wilhelm I. gewidmet, jenem Kaiser, der nach dem Deutsch-Französischen Krieg das Deutsche Reich schuf. Ihm sollte nach dem Wunsch des Deutschen Kriegerbundes auf dem Kyffhäuser ein monumentales Denkmal gesetzt werden, da dieser Kaiser nach den Worten des Schriftführers des Bundes Dr. Westphal “die Sage erfüllt und Kaiser Rotbart erlöst habe”. Das Denkmal sollte ausschließlich aus Spenden finanziert werden.

 

1889 wurden alle Künstler des Deutschen Reiches aufgerufen, Entwürfe für das Denkmal abzugeben. Die Art des Denkmals wurde den Künstlern freigestellt, es musste aber der historische Barbarossaturm der Burganlage erhalten bleiben und das Denkmal musste von allen Seiten einsehbar sein. 

Den Zuschlag erhielt im Juli 1890 der Berliner Architekt Bruno Schmitz, so dass im gleichen Jahr mit den vorbereitenden Arbeiten auf dem Kyffhäuser begonnen werden konnte. Als Baumaterial wurde Sandstein verwendet, der vor Ort in ausreichender Menge vorhanden war. Bis zu 400 Menschen waren am Bau des Denkmals beschäftigt, so dass bereits 1895 die Turmspitze aufgesetzt werden konnte.

Parallel zu den Bauarbeiten wurde der Wettbewerb für das Reiterstandbild und die Figur Barbarossas ausgerufen, da hier die Entwürfe Schmitz’s nicht überzeugten. Für das Reiterstandbild wurden die Entwürfe des Berliner Bildhauers Emil Hundrieser ausgewählt. Die Teile des Reiterstandbildes wurde in München und Braunschweig aus Mansfelder Kupfer getrieben, einzeln zum Kyffhäuser transportiert und dort montiert. Für die Barbarossafigur wurde ein 6,5 Meter hohes Modell des ebenfalls in Berlin ansässigen Bildhauers Nicolaus Geiger ausgewählt, das von den Bildhauern Lock und Schwartz auf dem Kyffhäuser bearbeitet wurde.

Am 18. Juni 1896 fand unter Anwesenheit Kaiser Wilhelms II., dem Enkel Wilhelms I., und fast 20.000 Soldaten die Denkmalweihe statt. Im darauf folgenden Jahr konnten die Bauarbeiten abgeschlossen werden. Die Gesamtbaukosten betrugen 1,45 Mio. Reichsmark, veranschlagt waren aber nur 800.000 Reichsmark.

Wäre es nach dem Willen des Architekten Bruno Schmitz gegangen, hätte der Kyffhäuser als Nationaldenkmal weitere Monumentalbauten erhalten (siehe Anmerkung 1).

Architectural eyecatcher of the Monuments is the 81 m high tower of three of the terraces is enclosed. The overall length of the monument amounts to 131 m, its total width 96 M. on the ring terrace finds 15,000 humans place. From here one has the best overview of the monument tower, the rider fixed image and the Barbarossa figure. From the Turmspitze one has a marvelous view on the resin, the golden Aue and the Thüringer forest on clear days. In addition, otherwise the ascent is worth on the tower with its interesting architecture.

 

 

The Kyffhäuser and the Barbarossa legend
Ludwig Bechstein, 1836

aiser Friedrich the red beard did not undertake a crusade into the holy country to entreissen this the Turks from dannen it again returned home. And soon thereafter various rumor and legend that it had not died, how nevertheless the customer was will come back, developed for sondem still live in the people, and.

Thus one said, it was verzückt and gebannt into a mountain. Some call the Untersberg with Salzburg, others rock with Kaiserslautern, in it the emperor a bewitched to sit are. At most however the Kyffhäuser is called as such mountain.

Since inside it is verflucht itself has with its daughter and all Holgesinde up to the time of its return it sits there now in the mountain lock, surrounded by its Wappnern, in a shining resounds, at a güldenen table and an old güldene crown carries on the head. The emperor red beard grew by the table and is enough twice already around the table. If it hands however to third times, then the emperor will come up, the realm will again maintain, the regiment will improve and the praised country with the holy grave the Turk will gain. Then it will hang its sign to the dry branch of a Birnbaumes, which stands on the advice field, and a large battle will then be struck, the tree however will become green and will flower.

Also the emperor does not sleep, sondem he nods and zwinkert with the eyes, as in the Halbschlummer and every hundred years sends he a dwarf to look up: whether the Raben still around the old castle control room of Kyffhausen fly?

If it comes back and states now that it still fly, the old emperor sad like before and schlummert again away. Thus already some saw it.

The old Barbarossa,
The emperor Friederich.
In the unterirdschen lock
It holds itself bewitched.

It never died,
It lives therein still now;
It hid in the lock
To the sleep itself put.

It down-took
The realm glory,
And will once come back
With it to its time.

The chair is elfenbeinern,
On it the emperor sits;
The table is marmelsteinern,
On which the head it supports.

Its beard is not from flax,
It is from fire glow,
By the table grew,
On which its chin rests.

It nods as as in the dream,
Its August’, half openly, zwinkt,
And depending upon long area
It boy signs.

He speaks in the sleep to the boy:
Go’ forwards’ to s lock, o dwarf,
And see whether still the Raben
Herfliegen around the mountain.

And if the old Raben
Still always fly,
So I must also still sleep
Bewitched hundreds year.

The Kyffhäuser castle

In the Middle Ages some Königspfalzen were, so for example Tilleda or Memleben in the area around the Kyffhäuser. The Pfalzen served, since the kings had no firm domiciles at this time still, as temporary domicile. Since the Kyffhäusergebirge was directly at the border of the slawisch inhabited area, additional protection castles were necessary for the safety device of the Pfalzen.

 

The strategically favorable situation favoured the building of a castle on the Kyffhäuser, which was called for the first time around 1118. Their bloom time experienced the castle Kyffhausen in the first third 13. Century. From 1407 to 1918 the castle belonged to the princes of Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, had however no military meaning more. Already in 15. Century was bad their building condition, because chroniclers spoke of the “wild lock Kyffhausen”.

At its bloom time the castle plant, consisting of under, was central and upper castle, over 600 m long and 60 m broad. Principal item of the plant was that about 30 m high “Barbarossaturm”, the donjon of the upper castle, to which as strongly fastened military tower offered a last refuge possibility. The “Barbarossaturm” can be visited today again over provisional stairs, which lead to in entrance present over 10 m height. The water supply of the castle crew secured a well, which is with 176 m the deepest well of Germany.

From the central castle only few wall remainders are remaining, since them already served in the Middle Ages as quarry for Mühlsteine.

The ruins of the Unterburg become from an enormous, until over 10 m surround high Ringmauer. In this area the remainders of the barrier travel chapel are particularly noticeable “to the holy cross”.

Although the Kyffhäuser was always brought since old times with the mythischen emperor Friedrich I., who admits also as an emperor Barbarossa is, in connection, its stay on the castle is not testified.

Bruno SchmitzKyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia,GermanyBruno Schmitz: (* 21st November In 1858 in Dusseldorf, † 27th April In 1916 in Berlin) was German Architect and Freemason. He attained in particular by his representative monument constructions worldwide recognition.

 

 

Also Designed the: Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument Indianapolis

 

 

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument, Indianapolis, Indiana

The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument in  

The monument exists from oolithischem Limestone and Bronze and if there is on the monument Circle, the city center from Indianapolis, Indiana, the USA. The town was built later round the monument. The monument is a work of the German one specified on monumental structures Architects Bruno Schmitz. Some figures come from him to Austrian ones Sculptor Rudolf Schwarz (1866-1912), Frieze from Bronze created from Bavaria later professor by birth in that Academy of the arts Berlin Nikolaus Geiger.

The monument became in 1973 in this Nationwide register of Historic Places registered.

In the lower level this is Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War museum.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Entry for January 02, 2007

Kyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia, GermanyBruno Schmitz: (* 21st November In 1858 in Dusseldorf, † 27th April In 1916 in Berlin) was German Architect and Freemason. He attained in particular by his representative monument constructions worldwide recognition.

Live [Work on]

 He received his education In 1874-In 1878 in that Academy of arts in Dusseldorf. Afterwards he worked in the studio of the known Dusseldorf architect Hermann Riffart. In 1883 if the 1-st price became to him in the competition for this Vittorio Emmanuele monument in Rome awarded (not achievedly). He married a singer; 6th August became the common daughter Angelica born, which sculptor in Dresden became, Alexander Archipenko married and with him in 1923 in the USA went.

In the 1890s originated three of the most significant ones Emperor Wilhelm-Denkmäler according to his drafts: this Kyffhäuserdenkmal, the monument in German corner in Koblenz and this Emperor Wilhelm-Denkmal in the Porta Westfalica. The finished one in 1913 formed the climax of his creating People’s battle monument in Leipzig.  

Also designed the : People’s battle monument – Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig

 

 

People’s battle monument

The people’s battle monument is one of her Landmarks Of Leipzig and forms striking ones visible far away Guiding point. It is the biggest one Monument Of Europe.

 

 

 

 

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Entry for January 02, 2007

Kyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia, Germany

Emil Franz Richard Hundrieser – sculptor of Male German Warrior

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Emil Hundrieser, (* 13. Januar 1846 in Königsberg; † 30. Januar 1911 in Berlin), if a known and more successfully German sculptor of the Wilhelminischen was a time.Hundrieser studied from 1865 to 1868 in that

Kyffhäuser Denkmal – (near Bad Frankenhausen, Kyffhäuser / Harzt mountains) * Emil Franz Richard Hundrieser  (1846 Königsberg / Prueßen – 1911 Berlin)

 Emil Hundrieser (* 13 January 1846 in king mountain; † 30 January 1911 in Berlin) was a well-known and successful German sculptor of the Wilhelmini time.

lives [Work on]

Hundrieser studied from 1865 to 1868 at the Prussian academy of the arts in Berlin. There he was master pupil of the sculptor Rudolf Siemering, in whose studio he worked after the study still further eight years. With its own work it could be affected already soon strongly by Reinhold Begas and its naturalistischen style of the baroque and Rococo. Before it became active starting from 1873 as free lance sculptors in Berlin, it undertook numerous study trips among other things to France, Belgium and Austria. there 1892 it was accepted as a member to the Prussian academy of the arts and transferred 1895 a Professur. 1905 were appointed Hundrieser as the director of the Rauch smoke museum. It predominantly created statues and figures for public places and buildings. After its death he was buried at the citizen of Berlin park cemetery light field.

works [Work on] 

The Berolina statue around 1900

• Monument Martin Luther for Magdeburg, 1886
• Draft for emperor William monument at the German hit a corner, 1893, the rider picture by Paul Rinckleben one implemented
• „Berolina “, first in gypsum for the Potsdamer station, then as driving work for the Alexanderplatz in Berlin, 1894, in 2. World war lost come, the re-establishment as casting is planned
• Rider monument emperor Wilhelm I. at the Kyffhäuser, 1896
• Fixed image v. Bismarck for Luebeck
• four allegorische figures on the toll bridge Magdeburg
• Königin Luise. Um 1895, nach einem Entwurf von 1888, Marmor, H. 156 cm, Unbezeichnet, 1895 von der National-Galerie, Berlin erworben; seit 1910 als Dauerleihgabe in Bad Pyrmont, Kurpark (haute Besitz der Nationalgalerie SMPK, Inv. Nr. NG 89 ; – Queen Luise. About 1895, according to a draft of 1888, marble, H. 156 cms, uncalled, in 1895 from the national gallery, Berlin acquired; since 1910 as a long-term loan in bath Pyrmont, health resort park (possession of the national gallery SMPK, Inv lashed out. No. NG 89
• Entwurf zum Kaiser Wilhelm I.-Denkmal am >>Deutschen Eck<<. 1892, Hohlgalvano, bronzepatiniert, H. 133 cm (ohne Sockel), Bez.: E. Hundrieser, Koblenz, Mittelrhein-Museum, Inv. Nr. P 998  

Hundrieser, Richard Franz Emil

* 13.03.1846 king mountain,
† 30.01.1911 Berlin,
Sculptor.

H. studied from 1865 to 1868 at the citizens of Berlin academy of the forming arts and was there master pupil Rudolf Siemerings. Since 1873 as independent sculptors actively, he became 1905 director of the Rauch museum (monastery route 76). H. created, affected by Reinhold Begas, numerous monuments and works for public buildings, among other things for the palace Borsig. Of it come the monument emperor William I. on the Kyffhäuser (1896) and the Kolossalstandbild the Berolina (1895), which itself in former times on the Alexanderplatz find. It is buried at the local park cemetery light field (Steglitz).

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Emil Hundrieser, – Berlin Alexanderplatz Berolina, Die Berolina Statue um 1900

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Prussian academy of the arts in Berlin. There he was a master-class pupil of the sculptor Rudolf Siemering, in his studio he worked after the study even other eight years. At his own works he soon strongly let himself from Rheinhold Begas and influence his naturalistic style of the baroque and rococo. Before he from 1873 as more free lance Sculptor in Berlin became active, he undertook numerous study traveling, among the rest, to France, Belgium and Austria. In 1892 he was recorded as a member in the Prussian academy of the arts and took over in 1895 there a professorship. In 1905 Hundrieser became the manager Rauch of museum appeal. He created mainly statues and figures for public places and buildings. After his death he became on the Berliner Park cemetery in the Berlin villa colony Light field-west buried.

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Entry for January 02, 2007

Kyffhäuser Denkmal, Thuringia, Germany

Emil Franz Richard Hundrieser – sculptor of Male & Female German Warrior and Kaiser Wilhelm I & Horse

Kyffhäuser Denkmal – (near Bad Frankenhausen, Kyffhäuser / Harzt mountains) * Emil Franz Richard Hundrieser  (1846 Königsberg / Prueßen – 1911 Berlin)

 

 

 

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Pierre-Jean DAVID, dit DAVID D’ANGERS – Angers, 1788 – Paris, 1856
Philopoemen
1837
Musée du Louvre

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Pierre-Jean DAVID, dit DAVID D'ANGERS – Angers, 1788 – Paris, 1856
Philopoemen
1837
L.P. 1556
Sculptures

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Pierre-Jean DAVID, dit DAVID D'ANGERS – Angers, 1788 – Paris, 1856
Philopoemen
1837
L.P. 1556
Sculptures

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Philopoemen
1837
Royal commission, 27 September 1831, for the courtyard of the Louvre; eventually installed in the Tuileries Gardens
Paris
Marble
H. 229 cm; W. 91 cm; D. 98 cm
Entered the Louvre, 1859; transferred to the Tuileries Gardens, then reinstalled in the Louvre, 8 October 1870
L.P. 1556
Sculptures

Philopoemen

Philopoemen, a Greek military strategist renowned for his courage, has been wounded during a battle. As he pulls out the javelin that has been hurled through his thigh, his face expresses both his pain and his fierce determination to return to the fray. While depicting a heroic antique-style nude, the sculptor has added movement, controlled energy, and an expressiveness that shows his Romantic aspirations. Description A Greek hero In 222 BC, Philopoemen took part in the Battle of Sellasia, where he fought under the command of Antigonus Doson, King of Macedonia, against Cleomenes, King of Sparta. When wounded, Philopoemen stoically removed the javelin that had broken in his thigh. The episode is related in the Greek author Plutarch’s Lives (lines 46-125), a book that draws parallels between famous Greeks and Romans. As an Achaean strategist, Philopoemen later attempted to build a united Greek alliance to counter the threat of Roman intervention. During an expedition against the city of Messina (183 BC), he was taken prisoner and forced to drink hemlock. Antique subject, modern execution David d’Angers carved a nude figure of his hero, as in antique statuary. He retained a number of the warrior’s attributes: crested helmet, baldric, and sword. The cloak, whose folds fall across the shield, provides the occasion for a fine study of classical drapery. But the sculptor abandoned purity of line and idealized facial features to invest his work with an expressive force, characteristic of the Romantic spirit. The monumental proportions (the marble is larger than life), the almost exaggerated modeling of a powerful, muscular body, and the enormous head transform Philopoemen into a colossus. The imperious facial features, the frown on his brow, the gaze at once full of pain and defiant, and the thick hair and beard give him a ferocious appearance. The curve of the arms, the line of the shoulders, and the raised head, whose movement is extended by the crest on the helmet, animate the statue with a vast upward thrust. An example of virtue The sculptor strove to reconcile physical nature with a moral essence. Seen from the right-hand side, the side with the wound, the statue depicts the man suffering, with back and leg bent. Seen from the other side, the statue represents a hero full of pride with raised head and hostile gaze. The work thus pays homage to the hero’s stoic courage, which dominates his pain so that he may accomplish his duty. Although Philopoemen was only thirty years of age at the time of the battle, the sculptor represented him as an older man. As he explained in his Notebooks, he disregarded historical truth because he wanted to depict “the last Greek” (as Plutarch called him), that is, “a great old monument which fought against storms before falling.” The statue is displayed beside other sculptures of ancient heroes, commissioned by the government of Louis-Philippe, such as the Soldier of Marathon by Jean-Pierre Cortot (1787-1843) and Cato of Utica by Jean-Baptiste Roman (1792-1835). They were all revered as “great men,” whose courage and patriotic or civic virtues were intended to set the public an example.

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François Rude (Dijon, 1784-Paris, 1855)
Young Neapolitan Fisherboy Playing with a Tortoise
Salon of 1833
L.P. 63

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François RUDE – Dijon, 1784 – Paris, 1855
Pêcheur napolitain jouant avec une tortue
Musée du Louvre

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François RUDE – Dijon, 1784 – Paris, 1855
Pêcheur napolitain jouant avec une tortue
L.P. 63
Sculptures

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François Rude (Dijon, 1784-Paris, 1855)
Young Neapolitan Fisherboy Playing with a Tortoise
Salon of 1833
Musée du Luxembourg, 1833-55
Paris
Marble (plaster model shown at the Salon of 1831)
H. 82 cm; W. 88 cm; D. 48 cm
Acquired by Louis-Philippe, 7 June 1833, for the Musée du Luxembourg; inventory of the Louvre since 1863

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François RUDE – Dijon, 1784 – Paris, 1855
Pêcheur napolitain jouant avec une tortue
L.P. 63
Sculptures

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Young Neapolitan Fisherboy Playing with a Tortoise

This young fisher boy with infectious good humor is a landmark in the history of art. François Rude shook the foundations of conventional classicism by the ingenuousness of his subject and his non-idealized representation of nature. The boy’s gracefulness undoubtedly ensured the success of the work, which inspired several artists, particularly Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. Description A Romantic manifesto This cheerful boy, playing with a tortoise held captive by a reed, caused heated controversy at the Salon of 1833. For the first time, an artist had sculpted a lifesize marble of a picturesque figure, an anecdotal subject. It marked a complete break with classical ideology, whereby genre scenes were considered to be unworthy of statuary art, especially in a medium as noble as marble. Rude’s theme and style also contradicted classical canons. Although reminiscent of antique sculpture, the work was imbued with an unprecedented feeling of freedom and freshness. The boy is naked like the heroes of mythology, but his body is not idealized and his hearty laugh reveals his teeth, a real breach of good taste. The tradition of representing children at play did exist in Hellenistic sculpture, but Rude emphasized the popular, lively aspect of his depiction. The child seated on a net is a young fisher boy, whose bonnet and scapular (the devotional object around his neck) show that he is from Naples. His attitude is carefree and his entire face – crinkled eyes, dimples, open mouth – is laughing. The Italian picturesque In the wake of Mme de Staël’s novel Corinne, or Italy (1807), picturesque figures of country people and fishermen became for poets and artists the embodiment of simple, innocent nature, while southern Italy was regarded as its last surviving refuge. Rude, who had never visited Italy, may have drawn his inspiration from scenes of Italian folklore by the Swiss painter Léopold Robert (1794-1835). With his plaster model, executed in 1829 and shown at the Salon of 1831, the sculptor inaugurated a theme destined to be hugely successful. At the Salon of 1833, Francisque Duret (1804-1865) showed a nimble, playful Neapolitan Fisher Boy Dancing the Tarantella (Louvre). Among the many subsequent interpretations was Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s outstanding Young Fisherman with Shell (Orsay, original plaster model at the Louvre). Its execution dates to the artist’s first visit to Rome, where he ordered a cast of the face of Rude’s Fisher Boy to be sent. Through the child’s grace, naïveté, and carefree cheerfulness, Carpeaux paid a vibrant tribute to his master. Recognition of a mature artist Despite the objections raised by conservative critics such as Gustave Planche, Young Neapolitan Fisher Boy was a huge success. It was purchased by Louis-Philippe’s administration for the Musée du Luxembourg, reserved for the works of living artists. It was the first time the State had bought a work by the sculptor, then aged forty-nine. That same year, Rude was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and he received the commission for his best-known work, The Departure of the Volunteers of 1792, also known as La Marseillaise, one of the four high reliefs on the Arc de Triomphe, in the Place de l’Étoile, Paris (plaster model of the head now at the Louvre).

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Ernst Gustav Herter The Rare Catch Mermaid Fisherman Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

Ernst Gustav Herter The Rare Catch Mermaid Fisherman Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

Ernst Gustav Herter The Rare Catch Mermaid Fisherman Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

Ernst Gustav Herter The Rare Catch Mermaid Fisherman Kreuzberg Berlin Germany

Orpheus mit Tieren, 1902 Orpheus with animals, in 1902 Ernst Herter Eckernförder Platz, Sylter Straße, Ecke Seestraße Sandstein Epoche: Kaiserreich Bezirk: Wedding
	Foto: Bernhard Südholt 2006
	Originally part of the wall well of the southern pavilion ragged after the war of the art university building on the stone place. Strongly weather-beatenly and damaged. Symbol for the music. Counterpart to Prometheus-Brunnen von Emil Hundrieser who is as a symbol of the pedagogic arts still on the original place before the north pavilion, U Ursprünglich Teil des Wandbrunnens des südlichen, nach dem Krieg abgerissenen Pavillons des Kunsthochschulgebäudes am Steinplatz. Stark verwittert und beschädigt. Symbol für die Musik. Pendant zum Prometheus-Brunnen von Emil Hundrieser, der sich als Symbol der bildenden Künste noch am ursprünglichen Platz vor dem Nordpavillon befindet,                                                 Hermann von Helmholtz, 1899 Ernst Herter Unter den Linden, Ehrenhof der HU Marmor Epoche: Kaiserreich Bezirk: Mitte Ensemble: Unter den Linden                                                                                                                                                     Foto: Marc Wellmann 2004 Krupp-Denkmal, 1899 Ernst Herter Straße des 17. Juni, TU-Hauptgebäude, Institut für Gießereikunde Bronze Epoche: Kaiserreich Bezirk: Charlottenburg Ensemble: Technische Universität                                                                                                                                                     On the occasion of the 100 year celebration of the Royal technical college the Siemens monument was revealed during the same day by Wilhelm Wandschneider. Anlässlich der 100-Jahr Feier der Königlich Technischen Hochschule wurde am selben Tag das Siemens-Denkmal von Wilhelm Wandschneider enthüllt.