Count Artur Potocki
Artist: Bertel Thorvaldsen (Danish, 1770-1844)
Date: modeled 1829, executed 1830-1833
Dimensions:
with base, H: 28 5/8 in. (72.6 cm.); without base, H: 22 1/4 in. (56.5 cm); W: 21 in. (53.4 cm)
Medium: marble
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1991.64
Label Text:When he made this noble portrait, Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was perhaps the most celebrated artist alive. He set up his studio in Rome in 1797 just as Neoclassicism, with its ideals of recreating the art of ancient Greece and Rome, was reaching maturity. While his bust of Count Potocki shows close study of Greco-Roman sculpture, the tousled hair and sideburns reflected current fashion. The finely textured finish of the marble—“to catch the light,” as Thorvaldsen said—was his own innovative technique.
Count Potocki (1787–1832) belonged to a great aristocratic family and was a popular member of international society. This bust was made for his palatial estate at Lancut, in southeastern Poland. The cloak and sword strap were devices adapted from ancient Roman portraits of emperors (see the bust of Emperor Domitian in the Classic Court). They symbolized Potocki’s early military service with Napoleon’s Polish troops in the Napoleonic Wars. Thorvaldsen’s portrait records both the dignity and vivacious charm of a man much loved for his warmth and generosity.
Count Potocki (1787–1832) belonged to a great aristocratic family and was a popular member of international society. This bust was made for his palatial estate at Lancut, in southeastern Poland. The cloak and sword strap were devices adapted from ancient Roman portraits of emperors (see the bust of Emperor Domitian in the Classic Court). They symbolized Potocki’s early military service with Napoleon’s Polish troops in the Napoleonic Wars. Thorvaldsen’s portrait records both the dignity and vivacious charm of a man much loved for his warmth and generosity.
On view
In Collection(s)