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Nymphs and Cupids

Claude Michel (Clodion)

Basic information

ID: С-I-532
Author: Claude Michel (Clodion)
Name: Nymphs and Cupids
Date of creation: 1780
Country: France
Technique: moulding
Material: bronze
Dimensions (height x width x depth, cm): 53 x 24 x 24

Additionally

Type: sculpture
Genre: mythological painting
Plot: Cupid
Provenance: Collection of Leon Pininski

Information about author

Author: Claude Michel (Clodion)
Artist's lifetime: 1738–1814
Country: France
Biography: Claude Michel (Clodion) (20 December 1738, Nancy - 29 March 1814, Paris) was a French sculptor and a representative of the chamber movement of Neoclassicism. He belonged to the dynasty of Lorraine sculptors. The artist received his first lessons from his father, Thomas Michel, a court sculptor of the Prussian king. Later, he studied in Paris under the famous sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In 1759 and 1761, he won the main prize and a silver medal at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In 1762, he moved to Rome, where he studied at the Academy of Art for nine years. The exquisite plasticity of Clodion's works, mainly depicting nymphs, erots, satyrs, and bacchanals, gained him popularity, commissions, and professional recognition. Upon his return to France in 1771, the sculptor was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. In addition to works on the theme of "gallant mythology", Clodion is the author of portraits, the composition "Dying Cleopatra", models of statuettes for the Sèvres Manufactory, drawings of plaques, vases, and candelabra. The master worked in marble, bronze and terracotta. He reproduced his works and put them on sale, which was an innovation for his time.

Object description

The composition by Claudion, dated 1780, was rarely cast in the 19th century due to the complexity of its execution: in addition to individual figures, it also required casting an intricate net in bronze. The composition is based on two naked female figures. One of them is sitting on a high rock, holding a fishing net in her hands, from which a small naked putto with wings (cupid) is trying to fly out. The second woman, depicted on the left, is helping the first one cope with the catch. The long, thick hair of both women seems to be blown by the wind. In the depths of the net lies another caught putti. At the bottom, the stone turns into a rounded podium, which in turn is attached with screws to a rectangular base with segmented cutouts in the corners.

Inscriptions

On the back edge of the stand are inscriptions: in red – "P.Z.S. 4201"; in white – "№ С-І-532".

Legal regulation

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

Nymphs and Cupids

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