Bouchardon. ROYAL ARTIST OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT (extrait)

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Bouchardon

Royal Artist of the Enlightenment

anne-lise desmas ĂŠdouard kopp guilhem scherf juliette trey

the j. paul getty museum los angeles

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This publication is issued on the occasion of the exhibition Bouchardon: Royal Artist of the Enlightenment, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, from January 10 to April 2, 2017.

The exhibition was originally presented as Edme Bouchardon (1698–1762).

Une idée du beau, on view at the Musée du Louvre, Paris, from September 14 to December 5, 2016.

This exhibition was organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Musée du Louvre.

The Los Angeles presentation is supported

by City National Bank.

This catalogue was supported by a donation of paper produced

by Arjowiggins Graphic and distributed by Antalis.

© 2016 Musée du Louvre, Paris © 2016 Somogy éditions d’art, Paris Text by Anne-Lise Desmas © 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust English translation © 2017 J. Paul Getty Trust Published in the United States of America by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Getty Publications 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Los Angeles, C A 90049–1682 www.getty.edu/publications Beatrice Hohenegger, Project Editor Rachel Barth, Editorial Assistance Catherine Lorenz, Jacket Design Amita Molloy, Production Fr o n t J a ck e t edme bouchardon Cupid Carving a Bow f r o m H e r c u l e s ’ s C l u b , 1750

Distributed in the United States and Canada by the University of Chicago Press Distributed outside the United States and Canada

by Yale University Press, London Printed in the Czech Republic i s b n 978-1-60606-506-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948568 Published in France by the Musée du Louvre, Paris, and Somogy éditions d’art, Paris

bouchardon_mep1_US_23092016.indd 4

musée du louvre

for musée du louvre Violaine Bouvet-Lanselle, chef du service des Éditions Fabrice Douar, coordination et suivi éditorial for somogy éditions d’art Nicolas Neumann, directeur éditorial Stéphanie Méséguer, responsable éditoriale Sarah Houssin-Dreyfuss, suivi éditorial Béatrice Bourgerie and Mélanie Le Gros, fabrication Tauros / Christophe Ibach, g raphic design

(c at. 218, detail) B a ck J a ck e t edme bouchardon Fr o n t Vi e w o f Yo u n g M a l e Nu d e , Fr o n t Vi e w o f Fa c e , M o d e l Po s i n g fo r C u p i d C a r v i n g a B o w f r o m H e r c u l e s ’ s C l u b , 1745–47 musée du louvre

(c at. 223, detail)

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contents

Directors’ Foreword Acknowledgments Lenders to the Exhibition Note to the Reader

6 8 10 11

Bouchardon and “His Sublime Idea of the Beautiful”

guilhem scherf

12

“They All Want to Imitate Him, and No One Comes Close”: Bouchardon and the Draftsmen of His Time j u l i e t t e t r e y

24

Edme Bouchardon in Rome

34

anne-lise desmas

Bouchardon’s Collectors é d o u a r d k o p p

44 54–55

Includes c at. 1 F i v e M e d a l l i o n s

Catalogue The Portraits of Bouchardon c at. 2–8

juliette trey

57

Copies after the Antique and the Masters in Rome c at. 9–45

Orig inal Compositions Made in Rome c at. 46–58

anne-lise desmas and juliette trey

anne-lise desmas

70

115

“Almost in a Single Line, Without Hesitation, and Without Correction”: Bouchardon’s Académies j u l i e t t e t r e y

142

Portraits and Head Studies

1 57

c at. 59–69

c at. 70–88

guilhem scherf

Drawings for Medals and Tokens c at. 89–101

Book Illustrations c at. 102–121

The Cries of Paris c at. 122

guilhem scherf

Secular Compositions c at. 151–198

Funerary Monuments

The Monument to Louis X V

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3 17

guilhem scherf

c at. 218–230

Chronology Bibliography Index Illustration Credits

261

guilhem scherf

Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’s Club c at. 231–271

228

édouard kopp

Relig ious Compositions c at. 199–211

203

guilhem scherf

c at. 123–150

guilhem scherf

175

185

édouard kopp

The Grenelle Fountain

c at. 212–217

édouard kopp

339

guilhem scherf

349

369

410 420 435 4 47

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Directors’ Foreword

Edme Bouchardon (1698–1762) was recognized in his day as a highly exceptional artist: “Undoubtedly a great man,” as the influential art collector Pierre Jean Mariette put it, “his good reputation followed him throughout his lifetime.” As a sculptor, he was hailed as a “new Phidias,” a modern equivalent to the greatest of all classical Greek artists; as a draftsman, he was celebrated as one of the very best in Europe. The view of art historians today has not changed, with Bouchardon continuing to be recognized as one of the most imaginative and fascinating artists of eighteenth-century France, instrumental in the transition from Rococo to Neoclassicism. Yet over the centuries his renown has waned, especially outside France, and there has never been a comprehensive exhibition and catalogue on this most significant and appealing of artists.

In 2013 the Musée du Louvre and the J. Paul Getty Museum entered into a collaboration to address the need for a reevaluation of Bouchardon’s achievements: Bouchardon: Royal Artist of the Enlightenment is its outcome. This groundbreaking exhibition and companion publication present Bouchardon’s art in all its remarkable variety of media—drawings, sculptures, medals, prints—and materials (including chalk, plaster, wax, terracotta, marble, and bronze). It surveys the wide-ranging themes of his art, from copies after the antique to subjects drawn from history and mythology, as well as portraiture, anatomical studies, ornament, fountains, and tombs.

Bouchardon’s creations are the result of an exceptional and marvelous synthesis of his passion for ancient art and his intense study of nature.

Bouchardon spent nine years in Rome (1723–32), where he captured the attention of Pope Clement XI I and received commissions from the most influential cardinals in the Vatican Curia. He also worked for rich British Grand Tourists and well-known antiquarians. Upon his return to Paris, as a sculptor to King Louis XV , he was entrusted with major royal commissions, creating some of the most iconic images of the period, such as Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’s Club, and the Equestrian Monument to Louis XV . His works were praised and sought after by discriminating art collectors of Europe.

From the outset it was clear that a serious exhibition celebrating Bouchardon could not happen without the Musée du Louvre. The Louvre owns the great majority of his works, for two main historical reasons: first, the major Bouchardon sculptures that once belonged to the French Royal Collections passed to the Louvre; and second, the bequest of the artist’s workshop collection made by his nephew, Louis Bonaventure Girard, to the Louvre in 1808 added more than eight hundred drawings to the museum’s

6

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holdings. In addition, the Musée du Louvre was successful in securing the acquisition of two further masterpieces of portraiture in recent years: the marble busts of Madame Vleughels and the marquis de Gouvernet, in 1999 and 2012 respectively.

The J. Paul Getty Museum and the Musée du Louvre, which have collaborated on a number of successful projects over the years—most recently, the exhibition Cast in Bronze: French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution of 2008–2009—proved again to be natural partners in developing a major international show that finally gives Bouchardon the focus and exposure he deserves. The realization of this significant endeavor is thanks to the expertise and enthusiasm of a team of four curators from our respective departments of sculpture and drawings: Guilhem Scherf and Juliette Trey in Paris, and Anne-Lise Desmas and Édouard Kopp in Los Angeles. They were the right people at the right time and place to undertake this very significant challenge and they are to be congratulated for so brilliantly portraying the quality and diversity of this supremely talented artist’s work.

We are immensely grateful to the many institutions in France and in the rest of Europe, as well as in the United States and in Russia, who have generously lent some of their most precious holdings to this exhibition. In addition, several private collectors are to be thanked for welcoming the curatorial team into their homes and generously agreeing to part with their prized possessions for the duration of the exhibition. Without such strong and enthusiastic support this exhibition would not have been possible. We are also grateful to City National Bank for its generous support of the Los Angeles presentation.

During the preparation of the exhibition, the Musée du Louvre and the J. Paul Getty Museum jointly funded the conservation and cleaning of numerous sculptures, drawings, prints, medals, and books, both to improve their condition and to be able to display them at their very best. We were especially pleased to have facilitated the conservation of two of Bouchardon’s masterpieces, Jesus Christ Leaning on the Cross and the Virgin of Sorrows, both monumental stone sculptures that we are delighted to display for the first time ever outside of the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.

It is our hope that this exhibition and companion volume, presenting the art of Edme Bouchardon in greater depth than ever before, will both provide a stimulus to further research by scholars and open a window for the general public onto one of the pivotal figures of eighteenth-century European art. The technical skill, elegance of line, and visual delight that were marveled at in the artist’s own time remain just as captivating today. jean-luc martinez President-director of the Musée du Louvre timothy potts Director of the J. Paul Getty Museum

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acknowledgments

We are particularly indebted to Jim Cuno, president and chief executive

to Los Angeles; Carole Campbell, former registrar for collections

officer of the J. Paul Getty Trust; Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty

management; and Cherie Chen, registrar for rights and reproductions.

Museum; Quincy Houghton, former associate director for exhibitions;

In the Drawings department: Lee Hendrix and Julian Brooks, former

and Richard Rand, associate director of collections, for their ongoing

and current senior curators; Stephanie Schrader, curator; Ketty Gottardo,

and invaluable support, guidance, and trust.

former associate curator; and Minna Philips, senior staff assistant.

In the Sculpture and Decorative Arts department: Charissa Bremer-David,

Such an ambitious project, undertaken in collaboration with the Musée

curator; Jeffrey Weaver, associate curator; and especially Ellen South,

du Louvre, owes also much to Jean-Luc Martinez, its président-directeur,

senior staff assistant. In the Paper Conservation department: Mark Harnly,

as well as to Sophie Jugie, director of the Département des Sculptures,

senior conservator; Nancy Yocco, former senior drawings conservator;

and Xavier Salmon, director of the Département des Arts graphiques.

Michelle Sullivan, assistant drawings conservator; and Stephen Heer,

They lent unprecedented support to this exhibition—the most extensive

senior mountmaker. In the Decorative Arts Conservation department:

one on Edme Bouchardon ever produced—by granting not only numerous,

Brian Considine, former senior conservator; Jane Bassett, conservator

but exceptional loans to the Getty venue.

and acting department head; and BJ Farrar and Mark Mitton, senior mountmakers, to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude for their constant

We are immensely grateful to Juliette Trey and Guilhem Scherf,

support and help. In the Exhibition Design department: Merritt Price,

curators of the exhibition at the Louvre, both great Bouchardon specialists,

manager and department head, and especially Robert Checchi, senior

whose enthusiasm, zeal, and perspicacity made our collegial work on this

designer, as well as Julie Garnett, designer, who both demonstrated

project so successful.

constant enthusiasm for the project and achieved such an elegant design for both the installation and the promotional material. In the Preparations

At the Louvre, many people played a key role in the preparation

department: Kevin Marshall, manager and department head, Michael

of the show. In the Département des Arts graphiques: Valérie Corvino,

Mitchell, lead preparator, and their entire team, who overcame the

Valentine Dubard, Ariane de La Chapelle, Ana di Pietra, Marie-Pierre Salé,

challenge of securely installing complex artworks. In the department

Christel Winling, and especially Hélène Grollemund, as well as Agathe

of Educational Public Programs and Interpretive Media: Lisa Clements,

Albi-Gervy, Camille Berthier, Manon Lequio, Joëlle Vaissière, and

assistant director; Elizabeth Escamilla, head of education; Tuyet Bach,

Simone Zimbardi. In the Département des Sculptures: Djamella Berri,

exhibition liaison; Peter Tokofsky, education specialist; Erik Bertellotti,

Laurence Brosse, Brice Chobeau, Frederick Hadley, and in particular

executive producer for digital media; Chris Keledjian, associate editor;

Mathilde Formosa and Vera Atanasova, as well as Lionel Arsac,

Jennifer McGinnis, associate software engineer for interpretive media;

Juliette Maridet, and Pierre- Hippolyte Pénet. In the Direction

Anne Martens, writer; Karen Voss, media producer; and Laurel Kishi,

de la Médiation et de la Programmation culturelle: Vincent Pomarède,

head of public programs. In Communications and Public Affairs:

Aline François, Fabrice Laurent, Pascal Perinel, Laurence Castany,

John Giurini, assistant director; Amra Schmitz, content producer;

and Stéphanie Orlic. We also thank Alix Cattoir, Sophie Hervet, and

and EddieJoe Cherbony, senior staff assistant. In the office of the director:

Anne-Élisabeth Lusset. Many conservators provided their expertise:

Janine Pibal, executive assistant; Ivy Okamura, museum council manager;

Julie André-Madjlessi, Hubert Boursier, Adèle Cambon, Agnès Cascio,

and Todd Hanson, senior staff assistant. At the J. Paul Getty Trust,

Béatrice Dubarry, Patrick Jallet, and Lucie Pieri.

in Procurement and Contract Services: Lynette Haynes, manager, who offered her expertise as well as patience.

At the J. Paul Getty Museum, many staff members contributed to We owe a debt of gratitude to many colleagues at the Getty Research Institute

various stages of the development and realization of the exhibition, and we gratefully acknowledge their unflagging efforts and professionalism

for their help and support during the preparation of both the catalogue

at every step of the way. In the Exhibitions department: Amber Keller,

and the exhibition: Thomas Gaehtgens, director, Marcia Reed, associate

principal project specialist, whose role and diligence were critical, and

director for special collections and exhibitions, Louis Marchesano, curator

Kirsten Schaefer, associate exhibitions coordinator. In the Registrar’s

of prints and drawings—all of their passionate and friendly help proved

department: Betsy Severance, chief registrar; Stephanie Baker and

critical; Sally McKay, head of special collections services, Ted Walbye,

Jacqueline Cabrera, current and former associate registrars, respectively,

senior special collections assistant, Sheila Prospero, assistant registrar,

who worked out the complex logistical arrangements to bring the objects

Stephan Welch, associate conservator, and Kevin Young, mountmaker.

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Special thanks are due to those who supported every step of the ambitious

Jonathan Marsden, Cait McCullagh, conte Andrea Miari Fulcis,

undertaking of the catalogue. The English version owes much at Getty

Alexandra Michaud, Christian Moinet, Marie Monfort, Francesca

Publications to the support of Kara Kirk, publisher, and Karen Levine,

Montanaro, Kari Moodie, Sophie Mouquin, Samuel Mourin, Nathalie

editor in chief, to the translations of Sharon Grevet, the copy editing

Muller, Sophie Nawrocki, Maureen O’Brien, Barbara O’Connor, Magnus

work of Mary Christian, the proofreading of Anne Canright, the indexing

Olausson, Bernadette Pébereau, Louis-Antoine Prat, Tamara Préaud,

of Jane Friedman, and last but not least, to the patience, diligence, and

Rudolf Rasch, Yohan Rimaud, Brigitte Robin- Loiseau, Patricia Rohde-Hehr,

determination of Beatrice Hohenegger, senior editor, and of Rachel Barth,

Pierre Rosenberg, Mark Ryan, Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot, Lionel Sauvage,

assistant editor. At the Louvre, Violaine Bouvet-Lanselle, chef du service

Eike D. Schmidt, Ruth Schmutzler, Heinrich Schulze Altcappenberg,

des Éditions au Musée du Louvre, Fabrice Douar, who demonstrated

Vanessa Selbach, Innis Shoemaker, David Simonneau, Martin Sonnabend,

great leadership and tireless commitment, and Gabrielle Baratella,

Emmanuelle Sordet, Philippe Sorel, Jack Soultanian, Perrin Stein,

succeeded by Suzanne Abou- Kandil and Virginie Fabre, who both

Norbert Suhr, Luke Syson, David Taylor, Jennifer Tonkovich, Emma

collected all the images so diligently. We are indebted to Anne Chapoutot,

Trevarthen, Holly Trusted, Anna Vilenskaya, Olivia Voisin, Chloe

for her meticulous copy editing of the French version (also valuable

Wootworth, Michel Yvon, and Thierry Zimmer.

for the English version), and to Christophe Ibach, for such a refined design of the catalogue. At Somogy, we thank Nicolas Neumann, director,

anne-lise desmas and édouard kopp

Sarah Houssin-Dreyfuss, and Caroline Puleo for their constant help, as well as Stéphanie Méséguer, Béatrice Bourgerie, Mélanie Le Gros, and Marc-Alexis Baranes.

With grateful appreciation, we wish to acknowledge the following people for their help during the preparation of the show and the catalogue: Prince Amyn Aga Khan, Denise Allen, Sergej Androssov, Nancy Ash, Christina Aube, Sylvie Aubenas, Mathilde Avisseau-Broustet, Adriano Aymonino, Andrea Bacchi, Laure Barthélemy- Labeeuw, Yves Beauvalot, Christian Belin, Anna Bisceglia, Bruno Blasselle, Olivier Bonfait, Antonia Boström, Mark Brady, Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, Amelia Brown, Emmanuelle Brugerolles, Raphaële Carreau, Sébastien Castel, Hugo Chapman, Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Éric Coatalem, Nathalie Coilly, Chantal Colas de La Noue, contessa Lucrezia Corsini Miari Fulcis, Carl Johan Cronstedt, Pierre Curie, Séverine Darroussat, Anne Dary, Olivier Delahaye, Bruno Desmarest, C. D. Dickerson I I I , Marie-Hélène Didier, Bénédicte de Donker, James David Draper, Vincent Droguet, Christophe Duvivier, Frédérique Duyrat, Christine Ekelhart, Guillaume Faroult, Lucie Flejou, Francesca Franciolini, Carina Fryklund, Marc Fumaroli, Jean-René Gaborit, Clarisse Gadala, Hélène Gasnault, Matthieu Gilles, Ketty Gottardo, Catherine Gras, Margaret Morgan Grasselli, Olivier Guérin, Geneviève Guilleminot, Ashley Hannebrink, Laurence Hardy, Sophie Harent, Michel Hilaire, Linda Hinners, Rita Hofereiter, Jeffrey E. Horvitz, Jan Howard, Florence Hudowicz, Christian Huemer, Victor Hundsbuckler, Nicolas Joly, Frauke Josenhans, Caroline Joubert, Guillaume Kazerouni, Hans-Ulrich Kessler, Christine Kitzlinger, Friederike Kroebel, Alexis Kugel, Père Jean-Loup Lacroix, Alastair Laing, Shelley Langdale, Corinne Le Bitouzé, Christophe Leribault, Nicolas Lesur, Hélène Lorblanchet, Valérie Louart,

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lenders to the exhibition

germany

We are grateful to all persons and institutions that have made this exhibition possible through their generous loans. A warm thank you especially

Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett

to Mme Georges Pébereau; M . and M me Louis-Antoine and Véronique Prat;

Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst

M . and M me Lionel and Ariane Sauvage; as well as to the lenders who prefer

Frankfurt, Städel Museum

to remain anonymous.

Hamburg, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle Mainz, Landesmuseum Mainz

austria Vienna, Albertina Museum

i ta ly Florence, Galleria Corsini

france

Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi

Bayonne, Musée Bonnat-Helleu Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie

russia

Caen, Musée des Beaux-Arts

Saint Petersburg, Hermitage Museum

Chaumont (Haute-Marne), Musée Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts

sweden

Meaux, Musée Bossuet

Stockholm, Nationalmuseum

Montpellier, Musée Fabre Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, U F R médecine, Musée Atger

united kingdom

Orléans, Musée des Beaux-Arts

The Highland Council

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France : Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Départements des Estampes et de la Photographie, des Monnaies,

Ickworth House, The National Trust

Médailles et Antiques, de la Musique, Réserve des livres rares

London, The British Library

Paris, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts

London, The British Museum

Paris, École normale supérieure, Bibliothèque Ulm LS H S

London, The Royal Collection Trust

Paris, église Saint-Sulpice, Conservation des œuvres d’art

London, Victoria & Albert Museum

religieuses et civiles de la Ville de Paris et Direction régionale united states of americ a

des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France Paris, Institut de France, Musée Jacquemart-André

Boston, The Horvitz Collection

Paris, Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Bibliothèque,

Cambridge, M A , Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum Los Angeles, The Getty Research Institute

Collections Jacques-Doucet Paris, Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris

New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques

New York, The Morgan Library & Museum

Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Sculptures

Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Pontoise, Musée Tavet-Delacour

Providence, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

Rennes, Musée des Beaux-Arts

Washington, D C , National Gallery of Art

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note to the reader

Dimensions are given in centimeters and inches for all the works of art

abbreviations and symbols

in the exhibition. Dimensions of other works of art cited in the texts or in footnotes

A A F : Archives de l’art français

are given in the metric system. Dimensions indicated in quotes from eighteenth-

A D C O : Archives départementales de la Côte-d’Or, Dijon

century catalogues or unpublished documents are given in the French

A M M F : Inventaire général des richesses d’art de la France. Archives du

Musée des Monuments français, vol. 1, Paris: Plon, 1883; vol. 2, Paris: Plon, 1886;

Ancien Régime system: in the 1700s, measures were calculated in pieds (feet),

vol. 3, Paris: Plon, 1897

pouces (inches), and lignes (lines); a pied (composed of 12 pouces) corresponds

A N : Archives nationales, Paris

to 32.5 cm, and a pouce (composed of twelve lignes) to 2.7 cm.

Arch. Chaumont: Archival material from the descendants of Bouchardon and conserved in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Chaumont (Haute- Marne)

Titles of books or print series as well as inscriptions on sculptures, drawings, prints, and their respective pedestals and mounts, are transcribed and kept

B n F : Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

in their original language. All quotes from archival material and published

B S H A F : Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français

sources have been translated into English.

C . D . : Correspondance des directeurs de l’Académie de France à Rome

These translated texts have been modernized to correspond to today’s usage:

C L : Correspondance littéraire, philosophique et critique par Grimm, Diderot,

(see bibliography) punctuation, apostrophes, capitalization, and accents have been restored,

Raynal, Meister, etc. revue sur les textes originaux [. . .], Maurice Tourneux,

and abbreviated words written out.

16 vol., Paris: Garnier frères, 1877–82 diam.: diameter

Public exhibitions of works created by the artists of the Royal Academy of Painting

E N S B A : École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts, Paris

and Sculpture (called the “Salon “) were held in the Louvre palace on a regular

E N S P : École nationale supérieure du paysage, Versailles

basis starting in 1737. The opening was always on August 25—the day honoring

E N S S I B : École nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information

et des bibliothèques, Villeurbanne

Saint Louis—and they generally lasted one month. The booklets accompanying these exhibitions were collected and published in nine volumes by Jules Guiffrey

E T : étude notariale

from 1869 to 1872 under the title Collection des livrets des anciennes expositions

G BA : Gazette des Beaux-Arts

depuis 1673 jusqu’en 1800 (reprint, Nogent-le-Roi: 1990).

H .: height

A new edition, complete with inventory of booklets for other exhibitions and

I N H A : Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris

organized in alphabetical order by artist name, was published in three volumes

Lugt (often abbreviated by L . before a number): Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins et d’Estampes, Amsterdam, 1921; Supplément, The Hague, 1956

by Pierre Sanchez in 2004.

M C : Minutier central

The published critical reviews of the Salons were catalogued by McWilliam in 1991.

M d F : Mercure de France

Unless otherwise noted, references of drawings always refer to their recto.

NA A F : Nouvelles Archives de l’art français

The bibliography for prints and published books within the catalogue section

R K D : Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague

does not refer to a particular item, unless specifically mentioned.

R L : Musées de France (1948–50), then La Revue des arts. Musées de France (1951–60),

then La Revue du Louvre et des musées de France (1961–90), then Revue du Louvre.

The auction sales indicated were always held in Paris unless otherwise noted.

La Revue des musées de France (1991–2003), then La Revue des musées de France.

Revue du Louvre (since 2004)

provenance Girard gift, 1808. This mention abbreviates the following provenance, which encompasses a large part of the drawings in the collection of the Musée du Louvre:

Please note that the catalogue section in this volume starts with c at. 2.

Workshop of Edme Bouchardon; bequeathed in 1762 to François Girard and

c at. 1 appears on pp. 54–55, as in the original French edition.

his wife Marie-Thérèse Bouchardon, sister of the sculptor; bequeathed in 1785 to Louis Bonaventure Girard, their son; bequeathed in 1808 to Edme Voillemier, son of Hugues Voillemier and Nicole Catherine Bouchardon, sister of the sculptor;

■ Shown in Paris only

gift of Edme Voillemier on November 16, 1808, to the Musée Napoléon.

l Shown in Los Angeles only

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Bouchardon and “His Sublime Idea of the Beautiful”

guilhem scherf *

“ o u r l e a d i n g s c u l p t o r , ” 1 “the greatest sculptor and the best draftsman of his century,” 2 “a very great sculptor, perhaps equal to the best Greeks and far superior to the Romans”: 3 public admiration accompanied Edme Bouchardon’s career throughout his lifetime. Although criticism, sometimes severe, nuanced the appreciation of his art, the majority of the evidence is in agreement regarding the exceptional caliber of this artist, who excelled in so many ways: as a sculptor, creator of monuments that left their mark on the Paris landscape (the Grenelle Fountain and the equestrian monument of Louis XV–statues that aroused intense aesthetic debate— the Saint- Sulpice ensemble, Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’s Club), and also as a draftsman beyond compare, 4 exhibiting his historiated stagings at the Salon. * “Avertissement ” (attributed to Mariette) to the Catalogue des tableaux, desseins, estampes, livres d’Histoire, Sciences et Arts, Modèles en cire et plâtre, laissés après le décès de M. Bouchardon, Sculpteur du Roi, dont la vente se fera dans le mois de novembre 1762 . . .

by François Basan 1762, p. 5.

1 Grimm, in the Correspondance littéraire, January 1757; Tourneux 1878, vol. 3, p. 333.

2 Cochin ed. 1880, p. 85.

3 Bachaumont (1750) 1857, p. 421.

4 “He could, with a single continuous line, follow a figure from head to toe, and even from toe to head, in any given position, without affecting the accuracy of the drawing and the veracity of the contours and proportions” (Diderot 1763, p. 242; this is a paraphrase of Caylus 1762, p. 13).

5 “I was one of the first ones who knew him in Paris and who therefore did justice to his talents when he arrived from Rome” (Caylus 1762, pp. 29–30).

6 Diderot quite nastily reports that, while at Cochin’s place, he read an annotation penciled by the latter in his copy of Caylus’s book: “Praise of Bouchardon, or the art of making a great man small” (Diderot 1763, p. 249).

7 Edme Bouchardon to his father, October 2, 1734: Dautrey and Mercier 2010, p. 232.

8 Caylus 1762, pp. 49–51.

9 Black chalk. Louvre, Inv. 23.874. Rosenberg and Barthélemy-Labeeuw 2011, vol. 1, no. F 543, p. 191. Mariette annotated the cartouche as if it were a Bouchardon drawing, an attribution confirmed

by Juliette Trey. Caylus points out that Vassé wanted to do a drawing of the wax model “to show his affection for the memory of a master he revered.”

10 Caylus 1762, p. 41.

11 Vassal de Saint-Hubert sale, January 17–21, 1774, no. 149: “Two sirens, a dolphin, etc. Model of a fountain by Edme Bouchardon, which he executed at Versailles.” Acquired for 241 livres by Lebrun.

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin drew the model in a copy of the catalog, preserved at the B n F , Département des Estampes (réserve Yd 5275–octavo).

12 Hattori 2007, pp. 64–66.

13 Pomian 2002, p. 49.

14 Cochin ed. 1880, p. 85.

15 Köhler 2008, p. 313.

16 Bouchardon distributed practically all of his drawings “to his friends, and especially to me, as I have the greatest number of them”: Mariette 1853–62, vol. 1, p. 164.

17 Mariette 2011, pp. 9–11.

bouchardon_mep1_US_23092016.indd 12

In addition, he was a tireless purveyor of new ideas and compositions for engravers and publishers of prints (Caylus, Fessard, Huquier, Jombert), generously distributing his red-chalk drawings and counterproofs, models in terracotta or in wax to his circle of friends. It is undoubtedly here that we find the key to the extraordinary, almost overwhelming influence of the artist in his day: the convergence of a riveting and exceptional artistic personality and the establishment of a network of loyal and even intimate, powerful friends, committed to steadfastly supporting him.

A Network As soon as he arrived at the Académie de France in Rome, Bouchardon’s talent, particularly for drawing, was recognized by the successive directors, Poerson and Vleughels, along with a superiority complex that never left him. In fewer than ten years he established himself in the artistic circles of Rome, with Cardinal de Polignac and the French, but also with the English and their mentor Philipp von Stosch, and especially with the most influential Italians such as Cardinal Albani and Cardinal Corsini. In the Eternal City he signed two masterpieces, the bust of von Stosch

12

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“They All Want to Imitate Him, and No One Comes Close” : Bouchardon and the Draftsmen of His Time

juliette trey

*

“ w h a t a r t i s t w i l l e v e r s t a n d o u t l i k e h i m for the finesse, expression & and depth of his knowledge of drawing? The portfolios and cabinets of the Curieux of all Nations testify to this.” 1 The painter Michel François Dandré Bardon, like the connoisseurs comte de Caylus, Pierre Jean Mariette, and Charles Nicolas Cochin, noted the admiration Bouchardon aroused in his contemporaries. In his Vie d’Edme Bouchardon, Caylus considers him “one of the greatest and finest draftsmen that sculpture has ever produced.” 2 According to Mariette, “The artists all agreed to award him the tribute of praises that he deserved.” 3 Cochin goes even further, describing him as the “greatest sculptor and . . . best draftsman of his time.” 4 He specifies that in 1763, only Bouchardon, * Mariette 1851-60, vol. 5, p. 169, notice Saly.

1 Dandré Bardon, Paris, letter of August 3, 1762, in Mercure de France, September 1762, p. 159. On Bouchardon’s admirers, see the essay by Édouard Kopp in this catalog.

2 Caylus 1762, p. 16, read to the Académie de Peinture on September 4, 1762.

3 Mariette 1858–59, p. 164.

4 Cochin ed. 1880, p. 85.

5 Cochin ed. 1880, p. 49; see Michel 1993, p. 406.

6 Alexandra Michaud, doctoral thesis on Claude Louis Vassé, in progress.

7 Paris 1979, no. 123, The Attributes of the Arts, 1765, oil on canvas, 91 × 145 cm, Louvre, Inv. 3199, which includes the plaster model for the City of Paris; and no. 133, Autumn, 1770, oil on canvas, 51 × 82.5 cm, Moscow, Pushkin Museum; and no. 138, Winter, 1776, oil on canvas, 55 × 87.5 cm, private collection, after the reliefs of the Grenelle Fountain.

8 Rosenberg and Barthélemy-Labeeuw 2011, vol. 1, no. F 2709, after the bust of Madame Vleughels and posthumous sale of Louis-François Trouard (1729–1797), February 22, 1770, lot 247: “designs for fountains & others, by Robert, after Bouchardon.”

9 Rosenberg 1973, pp. 13–19; Rosenberg 2003, pp. 172–79.

10 C . D ., vol. 6, Poerson to the duc d’Antin, September 21, 1723.

11 C . D ., vol. 7, Vleughels to d’Antin, August 8, 1724, pp. 47–50.

12 C . D ., vol. 7, Vleughels to d’Antin, September 2, 1728, p. 451, cited by Roserot 1895b, pp. 15–16.

13 C . D ., vol. 8, Vleughels to d’Antin, July 2, 1733, pp. 462–63.

14 C . D ., vol. 9, Vleughels to d’Antin, August 5, 1735, pp. 188–89.

15 Stein 2000, p. 167; Caviglia-Brunel 2012, p. 38.

16 Caviglia-Brunel 2012, nos. D . 7 and D . 8.

17 Red chalk, 43.3 × 28 cm, Louvre, Inv. 24081, Trey 2016, no. 212; and red chalk, 27.5 × 22.1 cm, Darmstadt, Hessisches Landesmuseum, HZ 5389, Caviglia-Brunel 2012, no. D . 8.

18 Black chalk, 25 × 40.2 cm, Gothenburg, Göteborgs Konstmuseum 190/1960, Caviglia-Brunel 2012, no. D. 15; and red chalk, 56 × 43 cm, Louvre, Inv. 24178, Trey 2016, no. 115.

19 Red chalk with white chalk highlights, 36 × 24.9 cm, Louvre, Inv. 31407, Caviglia-Brunel 2012, no. D . 11; red chalk and white chalk highlights, 32.1 × 22.2 cm, not located, Caviglia-Brunel 2012, no. D . 12; red chalk, 26.9 × 39.5 cm, Louvre, Inv. 23912, Trey 2016, no. 257.

20 Red chalk, 25.1 × 18.6 cm, private collection, Caviglia-Brunel 2012, no. D. 85; red chalk, 18.7 × 12.6 cm, Louvre, Inv. 24332, Trey 2016, no. 202.

21 Attributed to Charles Natoire, red chalk, 33 × 20.9 cm, Louvre, Inv. 31439; and attributed to Bouchardon, red chalk, 36.7 × 24.7 cm, Louvre, Inv. 23986; see Laing 2001, p. 246, note 8; and Caviglia-Brunel 2012, p. 32 and no. D . 24.

bouchardon_mep1_US_23092016.indd 24

Michel-Ange Slodtz, François Boucher, and “a few others” drew better than he, thus placing Bouchardon in the small group of the most talented draftsmen. 5 To provide a comprehensive overview of Bouchardon’s connections with the other draftsmen of his time, one would have to mention his few students: Claude Louis Vassé, who also copied his drawings (see c a t. 63), 6 Laurent Guiard, and the artist’s younger brother, Jacques Philippe Bouchardon, several of whose sheets are preserved in the collections of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Or even others who, like Jean Siméon Chardin 7 and Hubert Robert, 8 paid tribute to his career by copying him. But let us move away a little from the interchanges that characterized the “generation of 1700”—the expression coined by Pierre Rosenberg in 1973, which has since found favor among art historians. 9 As Rosenberg has already shown, this group of artists was undoubtedly united by a closeness and a spirit of rivalry that crystallized during the time that most of them spent in Rome.

Upon his arrival as a pensionnaire at the Académie de France, Bouchardon impressed the director, Charles Poerson, with his qualities as a draftsman. “They (LambertSigisbert Adam and Bouchardon) showed me their drawings and M r. Bouchardon in particular seemed to me to have talent.” 10 Nicolas Vleughels quickly confirmed this first impression, writing in August 1724 that Bouchardon “is making a good deal of progress and draws wonderfully.” 11 Bouchardon’s abilities undoubtedly aroused the jealousy of

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Edme Bouchardon in Rome

anne-lise desmas

Fired with a spirit of emulation,

a r r i v i n g e a r l y i n t h e f a l l o f 1 7 2 3 and departing late in the summer of 1732,

he went on to Rome, burning

Edme Bouchardon stayed nine years in Rome, including seven as a pensionnaire of the

to inscribe his name between

Académie de France. The artist, who had just distinguished himself by receiving the first

the names of Michelangelo

prize from the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture of Paris, was sent to Italy

and Bouchardon.

to complete his training when he was twenty-five years of age. There he would begin his honoré de balzac Sarrasine, 1830

career brilliantly. His inquiring mind, creative spirit, and ambition enabled him to make the most of an experience in Rome that a combination of circumstances rendered exceptional. In fact, his stay coincided not only with a period of renewal at the Académie de France in Rome, but also with the heyday of the ambassadorship of Cardinal de Polignac to the Holy See. Such conditions would prove particularly conducive to the young Bouchardon, whose talent served the interests of the French institution and whose sensitivity and fidelity to the ancient models satisfied the erudite passion for the ancient world that was widespread among those in the ambassador’s orbit.

B o u c h a r d o n a s Pe n s i o n n a i r e o f t h e K i n g a t t h e A c a d é m i e d e Fr a n c e i n R o m e Sculptors Edme Bouchardon and Lambert Sigisbert Adam arrived in Rome in September 1723, followed in early October by painters Charles Natoire and Nicolas Delobel and architect Antoine Derizet. 1 The superintendent of the Bâtiments du Roi, the duc d’Antin, deeply disappointed by the previous pensionnaires—artists with recommendations but no talent—had carefully “chosen the best and most promising” for this new class. 2 At the time, the Académie had been headed by Charles François Poerson since 1704, who, in the ensuing years, had managed to protect the institution from elimination when the War of the Spanish Succession was strongly affecting the kingdom’s finances. 3 Perceiving the talent of the new pensionnaires, the director quickly began to harbor a desire to see them shine by decorating a French site in the heart of Rome. In fact, the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

C . D ., vol. 6, pp. 285, 294.

C . D ., vol. 6, p. 294.

abbé Pierre Guérin de Tencin, French chargé d’affaires from 1721 to 1724, had obtained

Michel O. 2002, pp. 189–92.

C . D ., vol. 6, pp. 300–301, 305, 314; Desmas 2002, pp. 110, 144;

Poumarède 2002, p. 76.

C . D ., vol. 6, p. 322.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 35.

Desmas 2002, pp. 107–13.

Dautrey and Mercier 2010, no. 4.1, p. 225 (January 8, 1726).

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 29; Hercenberg 1979; Michel O. 1996, pp. 115–39.

C . D ., vol. 7, pp. 29, 49.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 179.

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Bouchardon’s Collectors

édouard kopp

b o u c h a r d o n ’ s c o l l e c t o r s , or his amateurs, to use the eighteenth-century term, were numerous and from very diverse backgrounds (artists, men of letters, connoisseurs, dealers, financiers, aristocrats, politicians, and diplomats), and would therefore merit a whole separate study. The approach of this essay, instead, is to concentrate on a few particularly significant figures to highlight and to compare their collections, their preferences—medium, subject, appearance—and their motivations, whether aesthetic, historical, social, or other. In order to demonstrate the extent of the passion for the artist in France and abroad, a list of the main art collectors who owned works by Bouchardon in the eighteenth century, established largely based on the sale catalogs of the period, is provided as an appendix (see pp. 55–56). Their number was relatively small until the mid-1730s, but it increased markedly after 1750. This phenomenon can be explained, first, by the artist’s growing reputation, 1 due to his Salon participation between 1737 and 1746 2 and the wide dissemination of his creations through printmaking, and secondly, by the arrival on the market of exceptional collections of his works, notably through the sales of the estates of Bouchardon himself (1762), 3 Jean de Jullienne (1767), 4 and especially Pierre Jean Mariette (1775). 5 This can also be explained by broader changes affecting taste—which was becoming more classicizing and to which the precision of his draftsmanship was well suited—and the collecting practices in the latter half of the century, with the growing interest in contemporary art, especially sculpture, 6 and the change in 1 See Jordan 1985.

2 See my study “Drawing Exposed: Bouchardon and the Salon 1737–1746” in Kopp 2017, chapter 3.

3 Basan 1762.

4 Remy 1767.

5 Basan 1775.

6 See Scherf 2001.

7 See Bailey in New York and Ottawa 1999–2000, pp. 68–92; Michel 2004; Michel 2006; Szanto 2013.

8 See Smentek 2014, pp. 139–89.

9 Mariette sale, Paris 1775, lots 43–56 (terracottas) and lots 1093–152 (drawings).

10 Inv. 1857.0613.672 (see Rosenberg and Barthélemy-Labeeuw 2011, vol. 1, no. F 422, p. 130).

11 The sheet now fronts an album, not assembled by the artist, containing the original drawings of the Cries of Paris in the British Museum (see C AT . 122). Other than the inscription, it seems to match the description of lot 1114 from the Mariette sale: “Large title page done for the treatise on engraved gemstones by the late Mr. Mariette, showing Louis XV in a medallion, decorated with palm and laurel leaves, drawn in red chalk.” Yet the frontispiece was not reproduced in the treatise in question; see Mariette 1750b.

12 See Cochin ed. 1880, p. 39: Mariette was “keenly desirous of Bouchardon’s drawings, and he was in a good position to obtain some of them, and especially a large number of counterproofs.”

13 Caylus 1762, p. 12.

14 See Mariette sale, Paris, November 15, 1775–January 30, 1776, lot 1147.

bouchardon_mep1_US_23092016.indd 44

the perception of master drawings, which became collector’s items in their own right. 7

P i e r r e Je a n Ma r i e t t e ( 1 6 9 4 – 1774 ) Mariette was one of the greatest collectors of the century, known for the mark he placed on his sheets and for the great sophistication of his mounts (fig. 29). 8 He owned more than nine thousand drawings of all schools combined. Bouchardon, whom he greatly admired, was by far the best represented artist in his collection, with seven hundred works, primarily drawings, and no fewer than twenty-two models. This was the most

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T h e Po r t r a i t s o f B o u c h a r d o n

57

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Abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

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Th e Po r t r a i t s o f B o u ch a r d o n

juliette trey

“ m o d e s t i n h i s r a i m e n t a n d l i f e s t y l e , Bouchardon was always

to make the sculptor look more dashing than he really was. This undoubt-

simple in manner, and his mind was not of this frivolous century but

edly suited Johann Justin Preissler, who chose the portrait of Bouchardon

of centuries past,” according to the abbé de Fontenay in his Dictionnaire

painted by Ghezzi as a model for the frontispiece of his collection Nouvel

des

Artistes. 1

Cochin even found that he “was so excessive in his simplicity

Essai de quelques statues romaines modernes faites des meilleurs sculpteurs

that he sometimes adopted revolting hairstyles and he was quite often

hardiment dessinées par Monsieur Edme Bouchardon, premier sculpteur

on the verge of such shabbiness that anyone who slavishly imitated him

de sa Majesté très chrétienne, 7 published after the sculptor was accepted

would have become unbearably

ridiculous.” 2

An understated appearance,

by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.

which does not preclude a certain lack of elegance—that is all his contem-

The Parisian portraits are more a reflection of Bouchardon’s rise

poraries reveal to us about Bouchardon’s physical appearance.

to the status of a recognized artist, an image he maintained in the self-

So no one mentioned Bouchardon’s very distinctive profile. However,

portraits. The only identified self-portrait of Bouchardon in Rome is found

it can be seen very clearly in his few painted, drawn, and engraved

in the small Vade Mecum notebook (c a t. 3). In it, the artist hides his face

portraits, which are fairly evenly distributed over his Roman and Parisian

in his hands. The execution of this sketch in a notebook and the choice

periods. In addition to two oil paintings on canvas and three drawings,

to portray himself hiding indicate that it was a portrait that Bouchardon

there are two self-portraits in red chalk. This small body of work can also

did for himself alone. Once he moved to Paris and, especially, once

be supplemented by some Bouchardon drawings that can be described

he was approved by the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture on

as allegorical self-portraits. One depicts the artist with his head in

December 5, 1733, and admitted on February 27, 1745, the sculptor, also

his hands (c a t. 3), while the other, a metonym of himself, is embodied

appointed a draftsman of the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres

by two drawings of his own hands (c a t. 6 and 7). There were probably

in 1736, followed an official career. The portraits dating to this period show

other self-portraits; the Girard posthumous sale catalog identifies

Bouchardon as an established artist. The two Parisian self-portraits drawn

two self-portraits of Bouchardon. 3

in red chalk (c a t. 4 and 5 ) are different from the one in the Vade Mecum

The Roman and Parisian portraits differ, not surprisingly, in status.

The portrait of the sculptor at work painted by Pier Leone Ghezzi (c a t. 2) and the caricature, also by Ghezzi, showing Bouchardon sculpting his bust (fig. 39) are portraits of a friendship, evidence of a relationship between the two artists, and were probably part of a two-way dialog of mutual admiration. 4 In this earliest known portrait of Bouchardon, dated by Anne-Lise Desmas to about 1727–28 (c a t. 2), the features that identify the artist’s face are already apparent, emphasized by being depicted practically in profile: a hooked nose, full lips, and thick eyebrows. This distinctive physiognomy, appropriately accentuated, is found in the pen-and-ink caricature done

by Ghezzi right before Bouchardon left Rome in 1732. Already apparent are the heavy eyelids, which only became heavier with age in subsequent portraits. Ghezzi’s representation of Bouchardon is sprightly and lively, nearly spare and skeletal, while the pen-and-ink profile of the sculptor in the collection of portraits preserved at the library in Besançon 5 already seems heavier, fuller in the face, although the artist’s features are quite recognizable (fig. 40). The other portraits shown in this book help date this one to 1729 or 1730, a period when all these models were in Rome.

François and Carle Van Loo, who arrived in Rome in 1729, were there on the same footing as Toussaint Lavoisier, registered in Rome in the Liber Status Animarum of the parish of Santa Maria in Via Lata from 1726 to 1730. 6 Ghezzi may have exaggerated his friend’s features, perhaps

fig. 39 pier leone ghezzi

B o u ch a r d o n S c u l p t i n g G h e z z i ’ s B u s t

1 2 3 4 5

Fontenay 1776, vol. 1, p. 232.

Cochin ed. 1880, pp. 85–86.

Sale, Paris 1808, nos. 69, 98.

See Kopp 2015.

Anonymous, pen and ink, 18.2 × 23.2 cm, Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, carton H, no. 68.

6 Paris and Rome 1987, p. 63, note 70.

7 Frontispiece engraved in pencil manner, printed in red, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Est. 884.

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1732, ink vat i c a n , b i b l i ot e c a a p o s to l i c a vat i c a n a , c o d i c e ot to b o n i a n o l at i n o 3 1 1 6 , fo l . 8 9 vo

58

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Copies after the Antique and the Masters in Rome

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Original Compositions Made in Rome

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Original Compositions Made in Rome

anne-lise desmas

d u r i n g t h e n i n e y e a r s he spent in Rome, in parallel with his studies

It is especially the bust of Ghezzi, executed in clay only, that is sorely

of classical works and the great masters, Bouchardon executed many

missing. It was very faithful to the bust of Trajan, as it had a strap on which

original compositions.

Ghezzi’s name was written in Greek, and it copied the principle of the

Starting in 1727, when he did the bust of Philipp von Stosch (c a t. 46), he especially focused on portrait art. Compared to earlier portraits sculpted

von Stosch bust with the clip adorned with his emblem, a small chameleon. 10 Bouchardon did not have the opportunity to distinguish himself

in the classical style, for example those dating to the Italian Renaissance

in statuary art in Rome, as his commissions for full-length classical style

or the very classicizing busts of English patrons such as the Earl of Exeter

portraits came to naught. 11 The statue of the Prince of Waldeck, whose clay

by Pierre Étienne Monnot in 1701 and that of Daniel Finch by Michael

model has been lost, is fortunately documented by two drawings in the

Rysbrack circa

1723, 1

the bust of von Stosch executed after the model

Louvre and now also by archives that had never previously been tapped

of the bust of Trajan shows an exceptional mastery of the appropriation

(c a t. 50 and 51). The one of Lord Radnor, an Englishman who spent much

of classical art and great respect for its codes of representation. Bouchar-

of his life in Italy, is still known only through a letter from Fagel dated

don was able to reinvent himself brilliantly in this classical style for his

March 31, 1730, which predicted the inevitable problem of how this type

male busts—the one of John Gordon (c a t. 48) and then the one of Lord

of statue would be received. “The statue of my Lord Radnor will so occupy

Hervey

(c a t. 49). 2

And he wonderfully adapted the formula for his female

Monsieur Richardon [Bouchardon] that I am sure he will no longer think

busts—of Lady Lechmere (fig. 48), the Duchess of Buckingham (fig. 24),

about my bust. I do not have the honor of knowing the Earl of Radnor,

and Madame Vleughels (c a t. 57)—wearing light tunics, bare-throated,

the question is whether the model is appropriate for a statue which must

with naturally treated

hair. 3

For Lady Lechmere, whose bodice has slipped

be around for many centuries. I hope the enterprise will succeed, since

off her shoulder, baring the top of her breast, perhaps the sculptor was

a good life-size statue is, in my opinion, a very rare and very estimable

inspired by the Farnese Flora (c a t. 12) or the classical bust of a woman

thing.” 12 These commissions constituted a real novelty in Rome, where

that he drew, which was engraved by Caylus (fig. 49). 4 In any event,

the great masters of the seventeenth century had not had to treat this genre,

this total permeation of the portraits that Bouchardon executed in Rome

with the exception of the very special case of the statue of Carlo Barberini

with classical art is quite remarkable.

as a Roman general, composed of a classical torso, a head sculpted by Bernini, and arms and legs executed by Algardi. 13

It would nevertheless be an exaggeration to view these busts as neoclassicism ahead of its time. 5 It is clear that neither Bouchardon nor

When Bouchardon modeled the bust of Clement XI I (c a t. 53), Vleughels

Vleughels expressed any awareness of this still very new style in their

had hoped in vain that a drawing by the artist would be used by the pope’s

correspondence. Even though it is wonderfully done, this classicizing style

engraver, Ottone Hamerani, for his first pontifical coins and medals. The

was used only to suit the specific demands of certain enthusiastic patrons.

profile (fig. 50) was actually used for a medal struck in Nancy in 1730

It neither responded to nor resulted in a theoretical formulation by the

by Ferdinand de Saint-Urbain. 14 This case of a medal after a Bouchardon

scholars, collectors, or artists who appreciated it. 6 Finally, it in no way

drawing executed in Italy is manifestly not unique. An unpublished letter

constituted a rejection of the Baroque art that Bouchardon studied in his

by Vleughels 15 makes it clear that the Prince of Waldeck had sent him

drawings and from which he drew inspiration for portraits executed during

a German ducat with his likeness in the hopes of having a medal made in

that same period, such as the bust of Pope Clement XI I (c a t. 53) and those

Rome. The director discouraged him from using the services of Hamerani

of Cardinals de Rohan and de Polignac (c a t. 52).

and recommended an artist in France, “an excellent man who is currently

All the documented marble busts by Bouchardon have been found, 7

doing a medal for Cardinal de Polignac and one for Cardinal de Rohan after

with the possible exception of a second version of a bust of Clement XI I

Bouchardon.” He specified, “It is he who did the medal for Baron Stoch [sic]

done for Cardinal Annibale Albani (see c a t. 53) and perhaps the portrait

here, which Your Highness may have seen. He was not stingy about showing

of François Fagel, for which only a tentative order is found in the

sources. 8

it. There was a Diogenes on the back.” That was François Marteau, who in

The clay models have been preserved for only two of them—Lord Hervey

1727 struck this very well-known medal of von Stosch. Vleughels explained

(c a t. 49) and Clement XI I (fig. 50)—while those for the busts of von Stosch

to Waldeck that Marteau could easily do his medal in Paris. “Bouchardon

and Cardinal de Polignac, now lost, were owned by the painter

1 Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, pp. 757–58; Scherf 2010; Baker 2011, pp. 275–77.

2 I reject the hypothesis put forward by Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, pp. 755–56, that Filippo Della Valle sculpted the marble bust of Sir Thomas Robinson from a model

by Bouchardon.

3 Desmas 2012, pp. 298–99.

4 B n F , Estampes, Fa44.

5 Honour 1968, p. 193, note 2.

6 This did not occur until the middle of the century. Before Caylus and Mariette, see Saint-Yves 1748, p. 119, cited by Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, p. 758.

bouchardon_mep1_US_23092016.indd 116

Ghezzi. 9

will send him a plaster cast of the bust and he will also do a bit of clothing,

7 8 9 10 11

Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000.

Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, p. 756.

Dorati da Empoli 2008, p. 107.

Dorati da Empoli 2008, p. 114.

I am excluding the statue of Apollo at the Musée de Langres, which is not a Louis XV sculpted by Edme (Ronot 1958; Réau 1959a, pp. 142–44) but rather a work by his father: Desmas 2012, p. 301.

12 Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, p. 756.

13 Desmas 2012, pp. 301–2.

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Bouchardon’s Académies

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Po r t r a i t s a n d H e a d S t u d i e s

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Po r t r a i t s a n d H e a d S t u d i e s

guilhem scherf

e d m e b o u c h a r d o n ’ s i n i t i a l t r a i n i n g with his father was not

for a bronze relief executed for the comte de Maurepas (c a t. 76).

originally intended to make him a portrait artist, as Jean-Baptiste did

On a larger scale was the portrait of Louis XV in the context of the major

not do portraiture. However, his earliest works include portraits—

commission of the equestrian monument. The bust of the king was deemed

those of his father and mother—probably the pair found in his bedroom

“magnificent” by Friedrich Karl von Hardenberg, director of buildings

in the house in the Roule quarter at the time of his death—as well as

to the prince-elector of Hanover (and king of England) when he saw it

the sheet from the Musée Carnavalet (see c a t. 70 and 71, fig. 69). These

in the company of Mariette in 1741. 5 The comte de Caylus gave the model

three black-chalk drawings, dating to the early 1720s, show the essential

of the head to the Abbey of Saint Geneviève “and had it erected from its

qualities the artist had from the outset: sincere and realistic representation

drawings on a cippus with an inscription,” 6 an act of sycophancy toward

of the subject, tightly framed on a bare background, setting off the expres-

the monarch and of devotion to the artist.

sive intensity of the gaze. 1 His career as a portrait artist developed spec-

One of the most appealing aspects of Bouchardon’s art was his

tacularly in Italy where, alongside his portraits of churchmen in the rich

head studies in red chalk, which included impressive bearded old men

Roman Baroque tradition (c a t. 52), 2 he innovated by creating idealized

(c a t. 79–81), intense-eyed women (c a t. 83 and 84), and endearing

busts, which were among the first classicizing sculptures executed

children (c a t. 85–87). The elite collectors of the day—Crozat, Tessin,

in Europe

(c a t. 46). 3

Jullienne, Mariette 7—made every effort to collect such sheets where

The only bust he later executed in France—that

of the marquis de Gouvernet—was composed in that style (c a t. 72).

the artist displayed his sensitivity and the perspicacity of his graphic

As designer for the Académie des inscriptions, for the obverse of

style. Another type of work by Bouchardon delighted connoisseurs:

medals and tokens, he designed the profile of the king, which he character-

his caricatures. These engravings, wittily etched by Caylus, are veritable

ized by the sharpness of the contour, setting off the profile and the relief of

portraits (even though the models are anonymous), whether they be

the neck along with the heroic headband mingled with the hair generously

of a man of the streets 8 (fig. 67), a “fashionably coiffed Swiss”, 9

spread on the back of the nape. 4 He drew his inspiration from this profile

or a “churchwarden” 10 radiant in his official vestment (fig. 68).

1 A distinctive feature found some fifteen years later in the portrait of Geminiani ( C AT . 74).

2 The bust of Cardinal de Polignac was exhibited at his first Salon, in 1737 ( C AT . 52).

3 The bust of Philipp von Stosch was disseminated in an engraving

by Preissler, executed circa 1732 ( C AT . 47).

4 See C AT . 75.

5 Köhler 2008, p. 313.

6 Dezallier d’Argenville 1770, p. 383. The ensemble has disappeared.

7 At the 1737 Salon, Bouchardon exhibited “Two other heads, also larger than life, of the children of Mr. Mariette; one of a child laughing & the other a little girl in a bagnolette [a sort of hooded cap], in red chalk.”

8 Caylus’s engraving (Roux 1940, no. 65, p. 66) adorns the title page of Suite de Charges & Figures grotesques, published in Paris by Fessard, Rue aux Fers à la Couronne (copy at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin; proof before inscription at the B n F , Département des estampes et de la photographie, F A 43). The red-chalk drawing was sold in Paris, Palais Galliéra, on March 7, 1970, no. 21, ill.

9 One of the eight pieces in the Suite de Charges & Figures grotesques (see previous note).

10 Roux 1940, no. 68, p. 66.

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fig. 67 c o m t e d e c ay lu s after Edme Bouchardon Title page of the S u i t e d e ch a r g e s

et Figures grotesques

Etching berlin, kupferstichkabinett

fig. 68 c o m t e d e c ay lu s after Edme Bouchardon

C h u r ch w a r d e n Etching

p a r i s , b i b l i ot h è q u e n at i o n a l e d e f r a n c e , d é p a rt e m e n t d e s e s ta m p e s e t d e l a p h oto g r a p h i e , fa 4 3

158

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Drawings for M e d a l s a n d To k e n s

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D r a w i n g s f o r M e d a l s a n d To k e n s

édouard kopp

f r o m 1 7 3 7 u n t i l t h e y e a r o f h i s d e a t h in 1762, Bouchardon

Admittedly, they constituted somewhat repetitive work, since the same

occupied the prestigious position of draftsman of the Académie des inscrip-

royal institutions were glorified year after year. The academicians were

tions et belles-lettres, a royal institution founded under Louis XIV with

not always brimming with enthusiasm for composing the tokens, whereas

a dual mandate. It sought to advance antiquarian and historical knowledge,

they zealously discussed the exergues and legends for medals, whose

but also to provide inscriptions intended for the regime’s propaganda.

historical importance was far greater. For his part, Bouchardon drew

As part of this second prerogative, the Académie des inscriptions had

medals and tokens with equal diligence, but one can wonder if he did

to design the medals of the medallic history of the king and the tokens

not take more pleasure in drawing the latter. In fact, tokens gave him

of the royal administration.

an opportunity to address subjects that he rarely treated elsewhere, such

As the official draftsman of the so-called Petite Académie,

as landscapes (see c a t. 100). Furthermore, they constituted a pictorial

Bouchardon’s main task was to draw designs for tokens and medals

space where he could allow himself to create imagery that was at once

based on ideas developed by the academicians. The obverse of each

closer to everyday nature (fig. 73) and people (see c a t. 99) and also more

token or medal normally featured a portrait of Louis XV ; and the reverse

poetic and quirky (fig. 74) than in medals, where decorum was a must.

a composition comprising three elements: a corps de devise (the image), a legend (motto in Latin), and an exergue (subject of the commemoration indicated

below). 1

Regardless of their subject, Bouchardon’s drawings

Bouchardon’s drawings for tokens and medals were often misunderstood—and not always appreciated for their true aesthetic value—largely because of their connection with numismatics and because of the complex

were always executed in red chalk. They are very precise and complete

context of their creation, that is, the Académie des inscriptions et belles-

(fig. 72), except when they are first thoughts (see c a t. 95), where the

lettres, which required the draftsman to work within the constraining

artist is looking to imagine and refine a given composition. The drawings

parameters of royal propaganda. Medals and tokens had in effect a very

are always approximately 21 centimeters in diameter, while the medals

political dimension, which is why their design was tightly controlled

measure 4.1 centimeters and the tokens circa 2.8 centimeters—that is,

by the authorities.

five and seven times smaller than the drawings, respectively. For this

Drawings had to first be approved by the permanent secretary

reason, the tokens required an image that would be simpler to read

of the Académie des inscriptions, Claude Gros de Boze (1680–1753).

than the medals. In any event, a loss of visual information was inevitable

It was not unusual for Bouchardon to be asked to revise his composi-

due to the reduction and transfer of the motif from paper to metal

tions, especially for medals. But once the drawings were approved by

(gold or, more frequently, silver, copper, or brass).

the permanent secretary, a blue window was glued to the front of each sheet to make the drawings more presentable. They were then submitted

Tokens and medals had different commemorative functions.

Renewed annually, tokens (see c a t. 100 and 101) were distributed

to the appropriate minister and then to the king, who sometimes did

on January 1 to the employees of some ten royal administrations, such

not approve them. Approved drawings were then sent to the director

as the King’s Buildings, the Navy, the Queen’s Household, or the Royal

of the Mint, Jules-Robert de Cotte (1683–1767), who added a “release”

Treasury. Medals (see c a t. 91–94) commemorated major events in

at the top left of the mount, indicating the name of the medal engraver

the reign of Louis XV for posterity. They were intended to be perfect

and the date when the drawing was given to him. The medalists who

little monuments to the glory of the king—designed once and for all

engraved Bouchardon’s drawings included the prolific Jean Duvivier

in a durable material—hence the great care given to their creation.

(1687–1761), goldsmith and medal engraver François Marteau (1697–

Yet some medals were ultimately excluded from the official series

1757), who was a friend of the sculptor, 2 and Joseph Charles Roëttiers

of the king’s medals, especially if the events they represented were

(1693–1779) and his son Charles Norbert Roëttiers (1720–1772),

no longer considered to be sufficiently important.

both members of the famous Roëttiers dynasty. 3

Tokens always include the date in Arabic numerals, while medals

The medalists of the Mint often copied Bouchardon’s medal drawings

are dated in Roman numerals and their exergue is in Latin, while it is

(but not his token drawings, where the stakes were not as high) with

in French on tokens, making them more accessible. Theoretically, token

great care, apparently to absorb every detail of his compositions before

designs were executed in the year before the tokens were distributed.

engraving them in a smaller format on a die. That explains why there

1 For a detailed study of Bouchardon’s role in the Académie des inscriptions and of his drawings of tokens and medals in particular, see Kopp 2017, chapter 4.

2 See Roserot 1895b, p. 29. On the biography and the oeuvre of Marteau and the sources about them, see the website https://orfevrerie.wordpress. com/2013/01/10/marteau-francois/.

3 On the dynasty of the Roëttiers, see Bingen 1952.

4 See Mazerolle 1898, no. 52. p. 8.

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5 The artist’s estate inventory indeed included “a small in-folio volume, bound in calfskin, containing the counterproofs of drawings done by said deceased M . Bouchardon for the tokens and historical medals of Louis X V , valued in the amount of three hundred and fifty livres,” cited in Roserot 1895b, p. 7.

6 B n F , Estampes et Photographie, Inv. Pb 31-4 réserve.

7 Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France, Inv. M S . 1367; see Blanchet 1924.

8 Paris, Musée de la Monnaie, M S . Fo. 71; see Mazerolle 1898. These drawings are also listed at http://www.archivesmonetaires.org/bouchardon/bouchardon.htm.

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Book Illustrations

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Book Illustrations

guilhem scherf

o n e o f t h e m o s t u n e x p e c t e d a s p e c t s of Bouchardon’s career—

in the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm (fig. 75). 6 His ties with the perma-

activity, 1

nent secretary of the Académie, Claude Gros de Boze (1680–1753), were

though it was a career full of surprises—was his book illustration

which was completely concealed by his first biographers, Mariette and Caylus

symbolized by the designs he gave him, engraved by Preissler, to decorate

(who nevertheless profited from it). In 1877 Baron Roger Portalis published 2

the catalogue of his books, privately published in 1745: the frontispiece

a first list of illustrations after the artist’s drawings, which Alphonse Roserot

depicting an adolescent genius holding in front of him a large unrolled

assembled in a single paragraph in 1895, 3 with important additions. That

sheet of paper (fig. 77) 7 and a vignette featuring a seated Apollo.

There was a personal relationship that was probably more intense—

work, succinct and, significantly, not illustrated, has not really been studied

albeit brief—between Bouchardon and the great composer Francesco

since then (other than Mariette’s Traité des Pierres Gravées, see c a t. 116 ).

To tackle this study, it is necessary to consult the network of amateurs

Geminiani: Edme designed three frontispieces for his works, which

and professionals who surrounded Bouchardon. It soon becomes apparent

were engraved in 1738, 1741, and 1742 (c a t. 104–108). The sculptor

that practically all the illustrated books (and print series) executed after

and draftsman was also a musician, and he maintained connections

his drawings were planned in the context of that network. It was with the

with that milieu, as indicated by a charming fleuron with birds on

comte de Caylus, shortly after his return from Italy, that Bouchardon began

a garland executed in 1758 for Pierre Lagarde’s Journal de musique. 8

to associate with this type of production. The fleuron for the 1735 series

Bouchardon worked a good deal with Gabriel Huquier, who

Têtes d’après Van Dyck was the first of this genre (c a t. 102). In 1747, after

in 1737 began engraving several series of prints after his drawings.

the publication of the five series of the Cries of Paris from 1737 to 1746

This work was not directly related to the illustrated book world,

(c a t. 122), came the fleuron in the shape of a radiant lyre for the Airs sérieux et à boire et vaudevilles composés par M r Gaultier; 4 and finally in 1752 the frontispiece for the first volume of his Recueil d’Antiquités (c a t. 121).

Bouchardon was appointed draftsman to the Académie des inscriptions in 1737, and remained in that position until the eve of his death. He thus became well known in the scholarly world, for which he designed vignettes for the Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France from 1738 to 1741 (c a t. 113) and the frontispiece of the Transactions philosophiques de la Société royale de Londres (1740) finished with engraving by Fessard (fig. 76), 5 for which there is a thus far unidentified red-chalk sketch

1 In this section we are mainly dealing with books with text (illustrated with a frontispiece plate, a fleuron with the title or a vignette), and not bound series of prints without accompanying text, even though their presentation in collections can give them the appearance of books, such as the Cries of Paris ( C AT . 122), the two series of Academy Nudes ( C AT . 61 and 132), and the two of Vases ( C AT . 178).

2 Portalis 1877, pp. 20–26.

3 Stein (1910, p. 431) published a photograph of the fleuron from the 1740 Description des Festes.

4 Third series. Roux 1940, no. 75, p. 67.

5 French translation by Brémond. Pognon and Bruand 1962, no. 19, p. 33.

6 N M 1596/ 1875. Bjurström 1982, no. 810, ill. The frontispiece corresponding to a drawing of a similar spirit has yet to be identified ( N M 1598/1875; Bjurström 1982, no. 811) with the same provenance (sculptor Sergel).

7 The black-chalk drawing—with a non-autograph annotation in brown ink showing the date of 1738—was sold at Sotheby’s in New York on January 25, 2012, no. 63, ill.

An amateur—perhaps mountmaker Glomy, whose mark was on the old mount— skillfully glued, in the space left free by the draping, a black-chalk drawing

by Boucher depicting a child genius drawing the bust of a girl (fig. 20).

8 The engraving is by Augustin de Saint-Aubin: see Bocher 1879, no. 564, p. 161.

Lagarde was “Music Master Emeritus to the Royal Children of France, Composer of the Chamber, and Ordinary Musician of His Majesty’s Music.”

9 Cohen 1912, p. 121.

10 The catalogue of Bouchardon’s posthumous sale, published in November 1762, is available online at the website of the I N H A ’s digital library.

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fig. 75 edme bouchardon Sketch for the frontispiece of

Tr a n s a c t i o n s p h i l o s o p h i q u e s about 1740, red chalk s to c k h o l m , n at i o n a l m u s e u m , n m 1 5 9 6 / 1 8 7 5

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Th e C r i e s o f Pa r i s

édouard kopp

b e t w e e n 1 7 3 7 a n d 1 7 4 6 , with the help of publisher François

they depict real people rather than types, which was often the case

Joullain, the comte de Caylus and the engraver Étienne Fessard published

in the Cries of Paris—with astonishing immediacy.

This type of print, which dates back to the sixteenth century, are

a series of sixty prints after drawings by Edme Bouchardon, entitled Studies Drawn among the Lower Folk or the Cries of Paris (Études prises

named for the cries that such street vendors shouted to peddle their wares

dans le bas Peuple ou Les Cris de Paris). The Cries of Paris was the fruit of

and the services they offered to all. This genre was very much in vogue

a close cooperation between Caylus, who seems to have been its instigator,

with artists and collectors in the late 1730s, a time when genre subjects

and our artist, who provided the many drawings. Aside from the Traité

in the Northern vein were experiencing renewed popularity. A few months

des Pierres Gravées by Pierre Jean Mariette (see c a t. 116–119), which

before the first series after Bouchardon’s drawings was published,

Bouchardon would illustrate a few years later, the Cries of Paris was his

Gabriel Huquier published a series of twelve Cries of Paris engraved

most substantial contribution in the realm of printmaking. In 1765, print-

by Simon François Ravenet and Jacques Philippe Le Bas after drawings

maker Jean Georges Wille clearly noted that Bouchardon did drawings

by François Boucher (fig. 82). 5 That series may have encouraged Caylus

for the comte de Caylus, who intended to etch them from the inception. 1

and Bouchardon to create their own series, which was ultimately more

It was the second most collected series of this type in the eighteenth

ambitious in size and much more original in approach. Bouchardon’s

century, following the 1740 edition of Annibale Carracci’s Arti di Bologna

series falls within the French tradition of genre prints, from Jacques Callot

by Giovanni

Mitelli, 2

(1592–1635) to Abraham Bosse (1604–1676) to the Figures de Différents

one of the most famous series of engravings of the

time; the original drawings, however, which are preserved at the British

Caractères after Jean Antoine Watteau (1684–1721). Our artist clearly

Museum, were long unknown. 3 The importance of Bouchardon’s Cries

alludes to Watteau in some cases (see c a t. 122.21d); in others, he evokes

of Paris has been highlighted by recent studies, including those by

the interiors painted by his contemporary Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin

Vincent Milliot and Katie Scott. 4

(1699–1779; c a t. 122.32d and 122.35d).

The series comprises five sets of twelve prints. Each series starts with a title page (see c a t. 122.1p, 122.13p, 122.25p, 122.37p, and 122.49p) and each print describes a street trade personified by a single figure, seen in close-up, wearing the garb and holding the tools typically associated with his or her trade. The drawings and the prints derived from them constitute a poignant record of the working class in eighteenth-century Paris. These “anonymous portraits” are all the more powerful as

1 See Wille 1857, vol. 1, pp. 305–6: “the sixty drawings that M r. Bouchardon had drawn . . . [depicting the Cries of Paris] for the Comte de Caylus.”

2 See Milliot 1995, pp. 109–10.

3 Alphonse Roserot thought they were lost (see Roserot 1895b, p. 22), whereas the drawings had actually been in the British Museum since 1857.

The publication of a short article by Karl Theodore Parker (Parker 1930) pointed out their existence.

4 See Milliot 1995; Scott 2013; and Kopp 2017, chapter 2.

5 See Jean-Richard 1978, nos. 1516–21, 1334–38. This series was announced in the Mercure de France in May 1737, p. 997.

6 Wille 1857, vol. 1, pp. 305–6.

7 On the counterproofs and their provenance, see Rosenberg and Barthélémy Labeeuw 2011, vol. 1, nos. F 869– F 928, pp. 276–298.

8 Twenty of the counterproofs have been located: eleven are in the State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (inv. O R 25327 to O R 25329, O R 25331, O R 43644, O R 47335 to O R 47340); eight are in the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Cholet (inv. 985.015 to 985.022); one is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon (inv. 2002-3-42).

9 On this subject, see Washington 2003–4 and Valenciennes 2006–7.

10 Buy My Windmills, red chalk, 23.6 × 18.3 cm, Tournus, Musée Greuze, Inv. 2003.2.3; Lettuce Seller, red chalk, 23.5 × 17.7 cm, Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. 873-2-18.

11 See Jean-Richard 1978, no. 1517, ill.

12 We would also point out a drawing, formerly in the François Basan collection, currently not located, known through an engraving in the red-chalk manner by Petit.

13 Regarding the aesthetic and social tensions in the approach of Bouchardon and Caylus, see Kopp 2017, chapter 2: “Drawing between High and Low: Bouchardon’s Cris de Paris (c. 1737).”

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fig. 82 françois boucher

Th e H a z e l n u t s S e l l e r w i t h B e a k e r 1737, red chalk and graphite, 26.5 × 18 cm (10 7/16 × 7 1/16 in.) p a r i s , m u s é e d u l o u v r e , d é p a rt e m e n t d e s a rt s g r a p h i q u e s , rf 55314

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Secular Compositions

édouard kopp

s e c u l a r c o m p o s i t i o n s occupy a significant place in Bouchardon’s

before 1750. 6 He was enchanted by the world of the Greek poet.

œuvre due to their variety and inventiveness. They deal with subjects

According to Caylus, “This great Artist just read Homer in an old

as varied as allegory, myth and fable, ancient history, and even the decora-

& abominable French translation. He told me, his eyes full of the fire

tive arts (c a t. 178), caricature (c a t. 195 and 196), and the animal world.

that filled his head, Since I read this Book, men are fifteen feet tall,

The works grouped in this section essentially date to the 1730s and 1740s.

& Nature has broadened for me. I doubt there is a more striking example

During this period, the artist put much effort into the creation of secular

of genius speaking to genius & surmounting such barriers.” 7 Another

compositions, which were mainly, but not exclusively, stand-alone works.

example of a literary source little used by eighteenth-century artists

He exhibited several of them at the Salons between 1737 and 1746,

is Poliphilo’s Strife of Love in a Dream (Venice, 1499), a mysterious alle-

including lively drawings (see c a t. 163 and 164) and terracotta models

gorical, erotic novel by Francesco Colonna, from which Bouchardon

(c a t. 168 and 169). He also disseminated many of his creations through

took at least one subject (see c a t. 188).

printmaking, through his fruitful collaboration with the comte de Caylus

Aside from historical drawing, the fountain was a genre that the

and Étienne Fessard (c a t. 184 and 185), which helped establish his

artist was especially fond of, particularly since it allowed him to combine

reputation as a prolific creator and provider of models. His composi-

sculpture, architecture, decoration, and the element of water into a total

tions reflect his ambition in two areas in particular: the historical

work of art. He seems to have started taking a very serious interest in

drawing and the

fountain. 1

it at the time when he took part in the competition to renovate the Trevi

In his Roman period, he began drawing allegorical series, including

Fountain (see c a t. 55). 8 In Rome, he designed other projects that remained

an astonishing group of the Winds (see c a t. 151–156) and another group

at the “paper fountain” stage (see c a t. 172). Between Rome and Paris,

depicting the different Ages (c a t. 157–161), which he started in the Eternal

Bouchardon designed some thirty fountain ideas in all, but only two of his

City and completed after he returned to Paris. 2 He thus became versed

designs were executed: three groups for the Neptune Fountain at Versailles

in the codified vocabulary of allegory and learned to make wonderful

(see c a t. 189 and 190) and the Grenelle Fountain in Paris (c a t. 123–150).

use of the similarities and differences between compositions in the same

Among his unexecuted designs, some were intended for an urban setting

series, whether it be the five continents or the five senses. 3

(c a t. 177), but most were intended to enhance pleasure gardens or parks

Fable and myth, whose richness and ingenuity he appreciated,

(c a t. 174 and 175). These drawings have traditionally been dated between

helped him give free rein to his genius and to compose actual little

1730–32, when he was working on his design for the Trevi Fountain,

red-chalk tableaux in the grand manner of historical painting, 4 with

and 1745, the year when the Grenelle Fountain was completed. 9 However,

which he intended to compete, but without allowing himself the benefits

there is reason to believe that he continued to design fountains after

of color. He happily experimented through drawing, free from material

that date. In fact, his knowledge of the field earned him a contribution

constraints, but not necessarily free from the demands of a patron

to the 1747 edition of La théorie et la pratique du jardinage by Antoine

(see c a t. 166). He tackled the major themes of mythology, drawing

Joseph Dezallier d’Argenville (1680–1765), an author also known for

on subjects from the literary sources commonly used by the artists

his work as a naturalist and a collector. 10 First published in 1709, this

of his day, such as Ovid’s Metamorphoses (see c a t. 171), of which

work was a classic on the subject of the theory and practice of gardening

he owned several editions. But he endeavored to refresh his sources

at the time. The 1747 edition, undertaken by Mariette, was supplemented

of inspiration by seeking lesser-known and even scholarly subjects.

with several illustrations of fountains (fig. 93) after drawings by Bouchar-

He was encouraged in this by his friend, the comte de Caylus, who

don by whom they were clearly created. 11 For example, the Fountain

urged artists in general to have a better understanding of classical

of the Genius (fig. 94) was described in the book as follows: “A body

poetry, 5

of architecture loaded with rusticated panels, forming a circular portion

and through his contacts with scholars of the Académie

des inscriptions et belles-lettres. For example, Bouchardon illus-

on whose ends are placed two Lions spouting water into a small basin

trated several subjects from the Fasti—a relatively little-known work

located in the middle of a larger one. Rising from the small basin is a

by Ovid—The Lupercalia Festival (see c a t. 163) and The Parilia Festival

pedestal decorated with three dolphins spouting a few trickles of water,

(c a t. 164), as well as Rhea Outwitting Saturn (c a t. 162). Furthermore,

on which there is a child supporting a lead bowl from which water spouts,

he was one of the rare artists in France to illustrate Homer (c a t. 179)

falling in a sheet.” 12 This fountain, decorated with lions copied from

1 Another area where he nourished ambitions during this period was funerary art.

This aspect is discussed in a separate section of this catalogue.

2 This was established by Juliette Trey; see C AT . 157–161.

3 He would develop this aspect on a grand scale in the series of sixty prints of the Cries of Paris; see C AT . 122.

4 Regarding Bouchardon’s mythological drawings, see Melchior-Durand 1997.

5 See Caylus 1757, pp. i–iii.

6 See Wiebenson 1964.

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7 Caylus 1757, p. 277.

8 See Kopp 2008.

9 See Weber 1970, p. 198; Paris 1974–75b, no. 20, p. 20; Sulerzyska 1988, p. 107; Kopp 2008, p. 75, n. 18.

10 Dezallier d’Argenville owned several Bouchardon drawings, including Diana Bathing (cat. 187); see his sale, Paris 1779, lots 361–64, 552–53.

11 This little-known fact was noted by Sabine Cartuyvels; see Dezallier d’Argenville ed. 2003, pp. 635–36.

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Religious Compositions

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Religious Compositions

guilhem scherf

e d m e b o u c h a r d o n t r e a t e d r e l i g i o u s a r t from the beginning

for the city of Dijon—he did obtain the commission for the tympanum

of his career. In that way, he was following the example of his father,

relief, the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen, on which he worked closely

Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon, whose fame as a sculptor was based on his

with his son Edme. This composition was Edme’s first known sculpture

abundant production of altarpieces and church furnishings—in particular,

(c a t. 199) (fig. 110).

After moving to Paris in 1722 as a student of Guillaume Coustou,

the pulpit, the church wardens’ pew, and the altarpiece of the SaintJean-Baptiste collegiate church in Chaumont, executed from 1700 to 1710,

who gave him a letter of recommendation so he could attend the design

and the imposing stone altarpiece of the Ursuline chapel in Chaumont,

school at the Académie royale, Bouchardon would treat another religious

executed from 1712 to 1716. Responsible for the overall design of these

subject for the grand prize in sculpture, Gideon Choosing His Soldiers

altarpieces, Jean-Baptiste entrusted part of the execution to the work-

by Watching them Drinking, which he won the same year. Now lost, but

shop, but the gilding and polychromy were most often executed by his

fortunately known through two plaster casts, 3 the relief is in the same

daughter,

Jacquette. 1

vein as the one of Saint-Étienne in Dijon—an explicitly narrative compo-

Appointed master sculptor in 1698, on the birth

of Edme, and then sculptor of the town of Chaumont in 1702, he was

sition, with extensive expressive body language in clearly drawn characters

also named architect of that town in 1709 and master architect in 1713.

on a background left bare (fig. 108).

During his stay in Rome, Bouchardon would copy many religious

“It is that Bouchardon saw himself first as an architect, and not only a sculptor.” 2 It was in that capacity that in 1716 Jean-Baptiste submitted

subjects, both paintings and sculptures. “I model and draw every day

a plan for the façade of the church of Saint-Étienne in Dijon. While

from beautiful things. I occasionally practice the skill of making sketches

he failed—the façade was built from 1719 to 1721 using a plan by Martin

in drawing and clay in the taste of this country here, as much as I can.” 4

de Noinville, the official buildings architect and public works inspector

The sketchbooks in the Morgan Library and Museum, the counterproofs

1 Ronot 2002, vol. 1, pp. 32, 35.

2 Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 38.

3 Musée d’art et d’histoire de Chaumont (Schwartz E. 2010, p. 15, fig. 7) and Paris, E N S B A (Schwartz E. 2003, p. 140, ill.).

4 Edme Bouchardon to his father, January 8, 1726: Dautrey and Mercier 2010, p. 226.

5 See the essay in this volume by Anne-Lise Desmas, “Edme Bouchardon in Rome.”

6 Lours 2014, chapter 4, pp. 48–61.

7 Brice 1752, vol. 3, p. 448.

8 The text, entirely handwritten by Bouchardon, was reproduced

by Roserot 1910, pl. X X I X . Bouchardon agreed to cast his models in plaster for the total sum of 2000 livres.

9 Brice 1752, vol. 3, p. 449.

10 Caylus 1762, pp. 46–47.

11 Gougenot 1748, pp. 37–38.

12 The lettering below the subject says: “Peint d’après le Modèle par J. Chevallier 1735—Gravé par D. Sornique 1744 / La Sainte Vierge / Exécutée en Argent d’après le modèle d’Edme Bouchardon, Sculpteur du Roy / Dédiée à Mess re Jean Bapt. te Joseph Languet de Gergy, Docteur de Sorbonne, Curé de S t Sulpice / Cette élégante Statue, haute de 6 pieds (1,950 m), et posée sur une Base de 8 pouces (0,216 m) enrichie de Pierres précieuses, a été faitte / pour être placée dans la superbe Chapelle de la S te Vierge de l’Eglise paroissiale de St Sulpice de Paris.” The print was announced in the Mercure de France in October 1744, p. 2256.

13 We would mention an eighteenth-century oil on canvas in the Capuchin monastery in Cognac. Gold-, silver-, and bronzesmith Louis Isidore Choiselat executed a silver reduction for Saint-Sulpice in 1832 (Pauly 2008, p. 330, fig. 17a; Lours 2014, p. 58, fig. 25).

14 Mariette owned a patinated terracotta version, H : 14 pouces (37.8 cm), “of one of the Angels holding a book” (his sale, November 15, 1775– January 30, 1776, no. 46), and several terracotta versions of the Virgin (his sale, nos. 43 and 44; two were designed by Saint-Aubin: see Mariette 2011).

15 Gougenot 1748, p. 32; Caylus 1762, p. 45–46; Dezallier d’Argenville 1778, p. 351.

16 Caylus 1762, pp. 49–51. The wax model is mentioned in the inventory of his estate of October 10, 1765, no. 18 (Hattori 2007, p. 64).

17 Inv. 23874, Mariette collection: Rosenberg and Barthélemy-Labeeuw 2011, vol.1, no. F 543, p. 191, ill.

18 See Guiffrey and Marcel 1907a, pp. 120–24; and henceforth Trey 2016, nos. 311–23.

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fig. 108 After e d m e b o u c h a r d o n

G i d e o n C h o o s i n g H i s S o l d i e r s b y Wa t ch i n g t h e m D r i n k i n g (1722), plaster, end of the 19th century c h a u m o n t , m u s é e d ’ a rt e t d ’ h i s to i r e

318

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Funerary Monuments

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Fu n e r a r y M o n u m e n t s

guilhem scherf

b o u c h a r d o n w a s s o o n c a l l e d upon to focus on the funerary

and taken to the Musée des monuments français in March 1794. We lose

monument, a standard type of commission for a sculptor of statues. His

track of it in the nineteenth century. 14 Its appearance is fortunately known

father had executed few such projects, but several drawings of the ones

through drawings by two Swedish visitors, Carl Wilhelm Carlberg (fig. 121)

he did preserve their memory for

us. 1

As with the Saint-Étienne tympanum

in Dijon, for which he brought in his son to execute the relief (see c a t. 199),

and Jean Eric Rehn. 15 The last tomb Bouchardon worked on was the one devoted to the

he had Edme participate in the Claude François Jehannin tomb project in

memory of minister of justice Joseph Jean-Baptiste Fleuriau d’Armenon-

wrote, 2

ville (1661–1728) and his son, Charles Jean- Baptiste Fleuriau de Morville

a chapel at the church of Saint-Michel in Dijon. As Yves Beauvalot

the execution of that monument, completed in 1720, must be attributed

(1686–1732), secretary of state for Foreign Affairs and formerly of the Navy.

to Edme alone. He designed the architectural framework surrounding

The fairly modest work was placed in the family chapel at the church

the bust of the deceased (a copy after Jean Dubois) and the two funerary

of Saint-Eustache. The monument “consists only of a double urn, which

Geniuses, as shown by the drawing at the Musée de Dijon. 3

alludes to the death of father and son, who died within a short time of

During his stay in Italy, Edme drew several tombs in a wide variety of types, from the pope’s mausoleum at St. Peter’s to more modest monuments with simple

busts. 4

Unfortunately, he was unable to execute his magnificent

one another. That marble urn rested against a very large curtain bearing the two inscriptions: the work is but stone; but the ornament cannot be better understood; and Bouchardon could not have done more with

Clement XI monument, but luckily it is known through a drawing at the

the small expenditure they wished to make.” 16 The monument, mentioned

museum in Mainz (see c a t. 54).

in the Paris guidebooks, 17 has been lost. An anonymous drawing preserved

Shortly after he returned to France, Bouchardon would be asked to design the tomb of Charles de La Grange-Trianon, adviser to Parliament and canon of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, who died on July 10, 1733.

at the Musée Carnavalet may provide us with an illustration. 18 As we can see, unlike his contemporaries Lemoyne and Pigalle, Bouchardon had little opportunity to sculpt funerary monuments; unfortu-

The contract was signed on April 10, 1736, and Edme celebrated its signing

nately for him, his two most important projects—the tombs of Clement XI

in the company of Mariette and his wife. 5 Under the terms of the quote

and Cardinal Fleury—could not be executed full scale. But his creativity was

and the contract, on the tomb of marble, 6 Edme was to execute 7 a life-size

freely expressed by drawings. He designed ambitious “paper monuments”

figure of the deceased in marble “prostrate before a prie-dieu,” 8 in half

combining his knowledge of the architectural vocabulary and references

relief; as well as a relief above it, bearing the name of Jesus in a glory,

to great statuary in the highest-quality utopian projects (see c a t. 215–217).

also in marble. Bouchardon was also to design the cartouche containing the arms of La Grange, along with “the sepulchral urn placed at the top of the composition.” 9 “He did all the drawings, and he even executed several parts of the decoration,” 10 but the project was ultimately abandoned. 11 Bouchardon was more fortunate with another commission—the funerary monument of the duchesse de Lauraguais, who died August 26, 1735, at age nineteen in a horse riding accident. Executed in Tonnerre stone and placed in the church of Saint-Sulpice, “it expressed sorrow at the death of an attractive young person. It was composed of a single figure of a tearful woman, represented in a state of grief. She is depicted as delicate, leaning against a column on which we read these words, taken partly from Horace: Ut flos ante diem flebilis occidit.” 12 Contemporaries unanimously admired the elegance and sensitivity of this little monument showing a tearful female figure, “beautiful as a fine antique, as pure and as wise,” 13 one of the first figures of a mourner in eighteenth-century funerary art. The work was removed from the church during the Revolution

1 Ronot 2002, vol. 1, pp. 224–25.

2 Beauvalot forthcoming.

3 Dijon, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. 4000. Ronot 2002, vol. 1, pp. 106–8, fig. 79, and no. 57, p. 224. The monument has been lost.

4 See the essay “Edme Bouchardon in Rome” by Anne-Lise Desmas in this volume.

5 Edme to his father, April 31, 1736: Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 123.

6 Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.146.

7 The tomb, serving as a pedestal for the figure, was to consist of “four pilasters in the form of consoles.”

8 According to a drawing preapproved by the patron.

9 The total amount was 10,500 livres.

10 Caylus 1762, p. 51.

bouchardon_mep2_US_23092016.indd 340

fig. 121 carl wilhelm carlberg after Edme Bouchardon

Fu n e r a r y M o n u m e n t t o t h e D u ch e s s o f L a u r a g u a i s ( 17 3 6 ) between 1777 and 1782 Black chalk g öt e b o r g ( s w e d e n ) , r ö s s h k a m u s e e t , rkm 39:36-64

11 The annulment of the contract was written on October 24, 1751 (Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.146).

Bouchardon kept the down payment of 3,450 livres he had received as a final settlement.

12 Caylus 1762, pp. 47–48, “Like the flower before sunrise, deserving mourning, she dies.”

(After Horace).

13 Bachaumont (1750) 1857, p. 421.

14 The monument would have been returned to Saint-Sulpice in 1817, or taken to Saint-Denis.

It was seen by Guilhermy in the courtyard of the École des beaux-arts at an unspecified date.

15 Scherf 2007, pp. 207–8, figs. 2, 3.

16 Caylus 1762, pp. 48–49.

17 The monument “consists of an urn and a few quite simple ornaments”: Dezallier d’Argenville 1757, p. 189.

18 Musée Carnavalet, D . 9244: Scherf 2007, pp. 212–13, fig. 6. The two torches undoubtedly evoke the deceased: the key at bottom right, the minister of Justice, and the oar at left, the minister of the Navy.

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Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’s Club

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Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’s Club

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a t t h e 1 7 3 9 s a l o n , Bouchardon exhibited a “terracotta model of

having totally reworked the marble, and his scrupulousness was such

a statue that was to be executed for the king, representing Cupid who, with

that he did not rely on those who customarily sand and polish statues.

the weapons of Mars, is making himself a bow from the club of Hercules.

The length and tediousness of that operation notwithstanding, fearing that

Proud of his power and congratulating himself on having disarmed two such

its contours might be altered, from the same perspective, M r. Bouchardon

formidable deities, with a sly laugh the son of Venus shows his satisfaction

himself did all drill work, as it is the most difficult and risky and most

with all the harm he is going to

cause.” 1

He received the commission for the

work from the director of the Bâtiments du Roi, Philibert Orry, in compensation for abandoning the execution of the marble statue of

Louis XIV . 2

enlivens the marble work.

“Sustained by the hope of pleasing the king, he was not deterred by any of the difficulties inseparable from the execution of a statue such

At the Salon of 1746 the sculptor showed another plaster model, explaining

as this one, almost all parts of which are aloft, resulting in new dangers

in the booklet that the 1739 model “was but an initial work, indicating

to him every moment and with every strike of a tool. Furthermore, this

only the thought. The model exhibited today is more refined. Everything

is an isolated figure, therefore there are no parts that did not have to be

in it is complete and done from life; and it is from this model that the

worked in depth and with the greatest polish. It can be said that this one

life-size statue is being executed in marble for the king.” 3 The loss of

statue demanded the same work as a group of several figures and it was

the 1739 terracotta model—which cannot be identified with the poor little

necessary to put the time to good use in order to complete such an impor-

non-autograph reduction in the Musée de Bayonne 4—unfortunately does

tant and accomplished piece in the space of four years and two months.

not allow us to determine the appearance of this initial work. Released

“During all that time, in addition to a student sculptor and a workshop

after completion of the Grenelle Fountain in 1745, Bouchardon was

boy, a smith was constantly employed to forge and temper the tools ground

actually able to resume his project and show a more complete model

down by the marble at every moment.” 6

at the Salon of 1746. Perhaps we can recognize this model in the portrait

Before taking on the actual cutting of the roughed-out marble,

of the sculptor painted by Drouais in 1758 (c a t. 8 and fig. 123), and

Bouchardon used an initial clay esquisse, drawings “from life and from

that model could be the one from the Mariette collection, drawn by

several models,” two clay models (the first approximately one-third

Gabriel de Saint-Aubin. 5 An invaluable text—a “proposal for payment from 1750 funds”— based on a Bouchardon invoice, vividly reveals the stages of execution of the statue, a “work done with extraordinary care.” The great importance of this document warrants quoting it practically in its entirety: “In 1740, M r. Orry ordered this figure. In 1745, M r. Bouchardon started the studies, after immersing himself in its subject and recording his thoughts in an initial clay sketch. Many drawings from life and from several models followed, which resulted in one terracotta model 2 pieds (65 cm) in size and another 5 1/2 pieds (1.79 m) in height, both made entirely by the author.

“These models were molded. Whole and partial plaster casts were made and, for more perfection, molds were also made from living bodies, arms, legs, and other parts—all essential work for anyone wishing to imitate nature and not become lost in the execution in marble—operations that occupied one mold maker and two laborers for more than fifteen months.

“With these preparations done, the marble work began in July 1747 and continued until May 12, 1750, when the statue was completed.

“The rough form was made by a student sculptor, aided by a workshop boy, always under the direction of M r. Bouchardon. Once the figure was roughed in, M r. Bouchardon worked on it nonstop until it was completed, 1 Sanchez 2004, vol. 1, p. 222.

2 The large plaster model of the statue of Louis XIV, which was paid in full on February 25, 1739, was broken on the orders of Orry, who asked him “to work instead on a statue of Cupid carving a bow from the club of Hercules” (Furcy-Raynaud 1927, p. 46). The proposed payment to the artist from 1750 funds indicates that the figure was “in 1740 . . . ordered

by M r. Orry” (Furcy-Raynaud 1927, p. 50). So in the Salon booklet, Bouchardon jumped the gun on the official order by a few months.

3 Sanchez 2004, vol. 1, p. 223. Was it the “small model of the Statue of Cupid . . . thrown in plaster” from the sale of painter Charles Antoine Coypel, March 27, 1753, no. 224 (purchased for 55 livres)? We note, in the same sale, “The Head of Cupid,” probably a plaster model given the modest purchase price (30 livres 6 sols).

bouchardon_mep2_US_23092016.indd 350

fig. 123 françois hubert drouais c a t . 8 (detail)

4 The statuette from the Musée Bonnat in Bayonne ( H : 34 cm) has, since 1930, been rightly considered a “repetition” and not a “sketch” (Musée Bonnat 1930, no. 455, pl. X LV ). Like the terracotta model from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille (Furcy-Raynaud 1927, p. 52), it cannot be considered an autograph.

5 The terracotta model from the Mariette collection ( H : 12 pouces, i.e., 32.4 cm) was sold in 1775 (no. 53). Gabriel de Saint-Aubin made a splendid sketch of it from a sale catalog copy, preserved at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: see Mariette 2011, no. 53. It was acquired by the Prince de Conti (sale, April 8, 1777, no. 1268).

6 Furcy-Raynaud 1927, pp. 50–51.

7 Luynes 1860–65, p. 314.

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Th e M o n u m e n t t o L o u i s X V

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Th e M o n u m e n t t o L o u i s X V

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o n j u n e 2 7 , 1 7 4 8 , the aldermen (“échevins”) of Paris resolved to erect

the chosen location, the only condition being that the statue had to be

a statue in honor of Louis XV , on a land that the king was to choose, based

located in the axis of the wide drive at the Tuileries. 4 Ange Jacques Gabriel,

on a model that he had to approve. 1 Bouchardon was designated on July 11. 2

Premier Architecte du Roi, was tasked by the king with synthesizing

A competition was held under the aegis of the Académie royale d’archi-

the twenty-eight designs submitted: his final work was approved by the

tecture to determine what location to select. Many plans were developed

sovereign on December 9, 1755. 5 Louis XV ’s decision was of paramount

in various locations in the city, until the sovereign decided in 1750 to

importance for the capital’s westward expansion. It was also innovative. 6

donate the land located between the swing bridge of the Tuileries Gardens

The placement of the monument in a non-urban setting at the edge

and the Avenue des Champs- Elysées. 3 An engraved map was distributed

of the city, “out in the middle of the fields,” 7 was criticized by those who

to architects in 1753 so they could produce new designs suitable for

could not imagine the royal statue to be located in the countryside: 8 “[The place] did not adorn Paris, as that location has no need of adornment. It makes people say that it placed the king outside of Paris, as if he were not deserving.” 9 The preparations for the monument were long. Bouchardon

1 Roserot 1897c, p. 196.

2 Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.175. He was congratulated by the director of the Bâtiments du Roi, Lenormant de Tournehem, in a letter dated July 19, 1748 (Roserot 1897c, p. 197).

“It was stated that the order would be given to sieur Bouchardon . . . to do several drawings of the equestrian figure of the person of His Majesty, and some models after them so they can be presented to the King”: see A N , H 1862 and H 2163.

Ducros 1982, p. 255.

3 Ducros 1982.

4 Garms 2002.

5 Patte 1765, pp. 120–21; Roserot 1897c, p. 198.

6 Rabreau 1998, p. 292.

7 Laugier 1755, p. 168.

8 “The statue looks like a mere speck in that vast plain” (Mémoires secrets, August 17, 1772, vol. 6, 1780, p. 173).

9 Croÿ 1906, vol. 1, p. 287 (August 1754).

10 His library included works by Garsault (L’Anatomie générale du cheval) and Ruini (L’Anatomie du cheval): his posthumous sale catalog, November 1762, nos. 173, 174.

11 He owned Boffrand’s book describing the casting process of Girardon’s equestrian statue of Louis X I V : his posthumous sale catalog, November 1762, no. 178.

12 Guiffrey and Marcel 1907b.

13 Bouchardon wrote in his statement (preceding the contract of October 1749) that he had the honor of submitting to the king a “small wax model”: Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.183. Roserot 1897c, p. 198, note 3. The duc de Luynes indicates that on October 24, 1748, in Fontainebleau, the duc de Gesvres, governor of Paris, and the provost of the merchants Louis Basile de Bernage showed Louis X V and the royal family “a small clay model of an equestrian statue on its pedestal”: Luynes 1860–65, vol. 9, p. 109.

14 Roserot 1897c, pp. 198–200, ill. p. 201; Roserot 1910, p. 101, ill.; Chaumont 1962, no. 120, not ill. Then the [Laillaut de Wacquant] sale, Troyes, May 17, 1987, ill. cover.

Coekelberghs 1991, no. 7, ill.

15 The terracotta model is currently on the London art market, where it is being offered as a work by Jacques Philippe Bouchardon representing Adolf Fredrik of Sweden: advertising insert in the Burlington Magazine, November 2014, ill.

16 Undated document used by Roserot when he visited the Laillaut de Wacquant family (Roserot 1897c, p. 200). Now Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.183 (Laillaut de Wacquant gift).

17 Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.183. Roserot 1897c, p. 202.

18 A N , H 2163. Roserot 1897c, p. 203.

19 Roserot 1897c, p. 203.

20 Natoire to Antoine Duchesne, provost of the Bâtiments du Roi, May 28, 1752: cited by Roserot 1897c, p. 205. Mariette 1768, p. 6.

21 A pedestal made of Saint-Leu stone was built at Roule in June and July 1752: Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.192 (there are other statements concerning the pedestal under this number).

22 Note from Bouchardon: Arch. Chaumont, 2007.3.175. Roserot 1897c, p. 206.

23 Whereas the Mercure de France tells of a “large plaster model” (June 1753, p. 177), Luynes mentions a “small-scale model”: see next note.

24 May 16, 1753: Luynes 1860–65, vol. 12, p. 451.

25 On June 25, 1755, Louis X V granted Bouchardon a posing session for “a few hours” at Versailles so the sculptor could model his head in clay: Luynes 1860–65, vol. 14, p. 194.

26 Grimm repeated this in the Correspondance littéraire in January 1757: Tourneux, vol. 3, 1878, p. 333.

27 Patte 1765, p. 129.

28 Mariette 1768, p. 127.

29 Cochin ed. 1880, p. 87.

30 According to Mariette (1768, p. 161), the total height of the equestrian statue was 16 pieds (14 according to Patte) (5.20 m); and the figure of the king, measured separately, was 12 pieds (3.90 m). The height of the pedestal was 21 pieds (6.80 m).

bouchardon_mep2_US_23092016.indd 370

produced a very large number of preparatory studies, both drawn and sculpted, before settling on his composition and executing it on a large scale. The Louvre drawing collection provides outstanding documentation on the search for his sources, which must be completed with a study of his library (known through his inventory and his posthumous sale).

Bouchardon relied on erudition—including equine 10 and human anatomy manuals, treatises on proportions, and technical books on casting 11— but also on the skill accumulated through decades of work, particularly on the image of the king and anatomy—and a renewed analysis of models of equestrian monuments, beginning with those that could be viewed in Paris in honor of the Bourbons. 12 The complete image of the monument seems to have been quickly settled on, if we identify the Besançon maquette (c a t. 231) as the design submitted for royal approval. 13 In it, Louis XV is shown in antique costume on a walking horse, like the ancient Marcus Aurelius in the Campidoglio, Girardon’s Louis XI V on the Place Vendôme, Desjardins’s Louis XI V in Lyon, and Lemoyne’s Louis XV in Bordeaux. Yet he made his own synthesis. The horse with the raised right foreleg is reminiscent of those of the Marcus Aurelius and Girardon’s Louis XI V , but not Desjardins’s Louis XI V (where the left foreleg is raised), and the Lemoyne Louis XV also has the left hind leg raised. The horse’s head is turned to the right on the maquette, like the mounts of Marcus Aurelius, Girardon’s Louis XI V , and Lemoyne’s Louis XV . Bouchardon ultimately chose to turn it to the left, following the gaze of the monarch, like Desjardins’s Louis XI V .

The statue is perched on a very high pedestal adorned with narrative reliefs, like the Lemoyne statue in Bordeaux, but Bouchardon’s major innovation was to arrange four Virtues as caryatids. The terracotta statuette of a horseman on a rearing horse owned by Bouchardon’s descendants 14 led Roserot to think it was an initial concept for the monument on Place

37 0

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chronology bibliography index

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Chronology of the Life and Works of Edme Bouchardon

17 1 1

v e r a ata n a s ova a n d g u i l h e m s c h e r f

17 1 3

with the collaboration of

October 22 : Birth of Nicole Catherine (d. ).

May 1 : Birth of Jacques Philippe (d. ),

nicknamed “frérot” (little brother). 14 17 1 2

April 9 : Birth of Mariane (dies young). 15

prepared by

l aurence brosse

Her brother Edme is the godfather. She would marry Hugues Voillemier (d. ) in . 16

1667

May 16 : Birth of Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon in

Saint-Didier-en-Velay (now Saint-Didier-la-Seauve), son of Antoine Bouchardon, a merchant, and Gabrielle Trinquet. 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Ronot 2002, vol. 1, p. 20.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 132.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 132.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 132–33.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 133.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 134.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 134.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 134.

Quarré 1971, p. 40; Ronot 2002, vol. 1, p. 220.

Quarré 1971, p. 40; Ronot 2002, vol. 1, p. 221.

Rosenberg and Barthélemy-Labeeuw 2011, vol. 1, no. F 321, p. 95, ill.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, p. 134.

Caylus 1762, p. 9.

Mariette 1853–62, vol. 1, p. 162; see also La Live 1764, p. 68.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 112–13.

Arch. ENSBA , 480.

Cahen 1994, p. 71. He officially receives his silver medal on April 30, 1723 (Montaiglon 1875–92, vol. 4, p. 354).

Montaiglon 1875–92, vol. 4, p. 340.

Late castings in Paris, Ensba, and Chaumont, museum (ill.: Schwartz, E. 2010, p. 15). He officially receives the gold medal for the first prize in sculpture on April 30, 1723 (Montaiglon 1875–92, vol. 4, p. 354).

A N , A B X I X , 4228.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 225–26.

A N , A B X I X , 4228; C . D ., vol. 6, p. 259.

C . D ., vol. 6, p. 261.

C . D ., vol. 6, p. 285.

C . D ., vol. 6, p. 322.

A .- L . D ., p. 35 in this catalogue.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 49.

Valesio 1977–79, vol. 4, pp. 585–86; A .- L . D ., p. 40.

Fondation Custodia, Inv. 5543 001-004.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 270.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 286.

C . D ., vol. 7, pp. 318, 323.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 415.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 425.

C . D ., vol. 7, p. 433; A .- L . D ., p. 37.

C . D ., vol. 7, pp. 444–45.

C . D ., vol. 7, pp. 451–52; Desmas 2008, pp. 93–94.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 114–15.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 114–15.

Ronot 2002, vol. 2, pp. 115–16.

Dautrey and Mercier 2010, p. 227.

Baker, Harrison, and Laing 2000, p. 756; Sénéchal 2000, p. 142; A .- L . D ., p. 116.

C . D ., vol. 8, pp. 111, 121; Desmas 2012, p. 304; Kieven 2016, p. 312.

C . D ., vol. 8, p. 119.

C . D ., vol. 8, p. 125.

C . D ., vol. 8, p. 126; A .- L . D ., pp. 37, 38.

C . D ., vol. 8, pp. 128, 132.

C . D ., vol. 8, p. 136.

C . D ., vol. 8, p. 146.

bouchardon_mep2_US_23092016.indd 410

17 1 5

September 23 : Birth of Marie-Thérèse (d. ).

She would marry François Girard (d. ) in . 17

1692

17 1 6

October 25 : Marriage of Jean-Baptiste Bouchardon,

First design by J.-B. Bouchardon for the façade of the church of Saint-Étienne in Dijon (c at. 199). 18

architect and sculptor, and Anne Chéré, daughter of a master shoemaker, on Rue Chaude, now Rue Bouchardon, in Chaumont-en-Bassigny. 2

17 17

Second design by J.-B. Bouchardon for the façade of the church of Saint-Étienne in Dijon. 19

1694

September 29 : Birth of Jacquette (d. June , ). 3 17 19 1696

June 20 : Commission for the church of Saint-Étienne

November 4 : Birth of Marguerite (dies young). 4

in Dijon, where “J.-B. Bouchardon, sculptor and architect, residing in Bassigny, undertakes to do reliefs of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen and four children in the small tympanum by August .”

Bouchardon entrusts the execution of the work to his son Edme, who works under his direction (c at. 199).

Dated drawing of an academy of two men attempting to lift a block using a lever. 20

1698

May 29 : Birth of Edme [“Eigme”]. His godfather,

Edme Favier, is a clerk at the Chaumont salt warehouse; his godmother, Marie Dufour, is the wife of Étienne Le Cerf, keeper of the stamping hammer for the Chaumont Water and Forest Administration. 5 1699

August 1 : Birth of Arnout (d. ?). 6

172 0

June 15 : In a letter to his father, B. announces 170 0

October 22 : Birth of Jean François (dies young). 7

the completion of the relief of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen (c at. 199).

July 26 : Birth of Anne (dies young). 21

170 2

September 22 : Birth of Anne (d. ). 8

172 1

170 5

Date of portrait drawing probably depicting Edme’s mother (c at. 70).

April 12 : Birth of Jean-Baptiste (d. ?). 9 172 2 170 6

April 12 : Birth of Joseph Antoine (d. ). 10 170 7

July 7 : Birth of Nicolas (dies young). 11 170 8

July 17 : Birth of Marie (d. ). 12 170 9

November 5 : Birth of André (d. ). His brother

Edme is the godfather. 13

After leaving his father’s workshop for Paris, Edme becomes a student of Guillaume I Coustou at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. 22 Mariette reports that he entered Coustou’s workshop for a first time, but had to return to Chaumont due to health problems before returning to Paris to continue his training with Coustou. 23 March 22 : Letter from B. to his father: “Your letter, which I received, gave me the great joy of hearing from you and about your successful trip to Dijon, which I hope will be fruitful. . . . I do not like to run

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