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04512_WashNGA_Clodion_1952_5_99

CLODION, Claude MICHEL, called

Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle 1738 - Paris 1814

Vestale portant un vase et faisant une libation au-dessus d'un trépied

A Vestal

1770

marble

statue

Dimensions (HxWxD): 37 5⁄8 x 16 9⁄16 x 13 3⁄4; weight: 195 lb

on back of base: CLODION. inv. fecit Romae. 1770

Acc. No.: 1952.5.99

Credit Line: Samuel H. Kress Collection

Photo credit: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

© Artist : public domain

© Artist : public domain

Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, The National Gallery of Art

www.nga.gov

Provenance

  • Probably Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796), Saint Petersburg
  • Prince Gregory Alexandrovich Potemkin
  • his grand niece, Darja Nikolajewna Lopouchina, Moscow
  • before 1904, W.N. Isakoff, Kiev
  • before 1925, David David-Weill (1871-1952), Neuilly-sur-Seine
  • 1937, sold to Wildenstein & Co.
  • 1940, New York, Wildenstein, exhibited with the David-Weill collection for sale
  • 1949, Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York
  • 1952, gift to the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Bibliography

  • Museum's website, 22 July 2011
  • 1925 Henrist
    Gabriel Henrist, "La Collection David-Weill", L'Amour de l'Art, 1925, p. 14
  • 1951 NGA Washington
    Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951, p. 258, n. 116, repr.
  • 1959 NGA Washington
    Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, p. 451, repr.
  • 1965 NGA Washington
    Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965, p. 149
  • 1968 NGA Washington
    European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968, p. 132, repr.
  • 1974 Hodgkinson
    Terence Hodgkinson, "A Clodion Statuette in the National Gallery of Canada", Bulletin, The National Gallery of Canada 24, 1974, p. 13-21
  • 1976 Middeldorf
    Ulrich Middeldorf, Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century, London, 1976, p. 106
  • 1984 Walker
    John Walker, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Rev. ed, New York, 1984, p. 645, n. 1017, repr.
  • 1992 Scherf
    Guilhem Scherf, "Clodion en Italie: 1762-1771", Dossier de l'Art, avril-mai 1992, p. 6-9, repr.
  • 1994 NGA Washington
    Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, p. 47, repr.
  • 2005 Wildenstein
    The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York, Exhibition catalogue Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005, p. 65, fig. 92, p. 75 (not in the exhibition).

Exhibitions

  • 1940 New York
    French XVIIIth Century formerly of the David-Weill Collection, Wildenstein & Co., New York, April 1940, n. 37

    1974 Washington
    Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered

Related works

  • After a Roman antique statue of Vestal in Florence, Uffizi.
    Priestess, small model in terracotta, by Clodion, 1768, Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art.
    A French bronze group of a Vestal at a pyre, cast by Graux-Marly, third quarter of 19th century, Christie's sale in New York, 26 October 2004.

Comment

  • Curatorial file in NGA, 25 July 2011:
    The type form which this statue derives is common in Antique (Hellenistic) art. [See Salomon Reinach, Répertoire de la tatuaire Grecque et Romaine, Paris, 1897, I, p. 456 for several examples]. While using the heavy drapery and outward iconographical details of a Hellenestic figure, Clodion has enlivened his figure with grace and charm. The pose (left leg straight, right leg bent) is common, and yet the various manipulations of the drapery enhance its suppleness. For instance, the diagonals of the drapery emphasizes the backward movement of her right leg, but stability is achieved by the one counter diagonal and the vertical folds of the tunic between her feet. Most of the movement is to her right, and yet balance is maintained by the accent of the vase to her left and the support of the altar to her right. In short, the composition is carefully and most successfull worked out.