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Maquette for the Delacroix Monument

Maquette for the Delacroix Monument

Artist: Aimé-Jules Dalou (French, 1838-1902)
Date: modeled 1885, executed 1902-1905
Dimensions:
H: 34 3/4 in. (88.3 cm)
Medium: bronze
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1964.61
Label Text:In 1884, a group of cultural and political leaders proposed a monument to honor one of France’s greatest artists, Eugène Delacroix (look for the Museum’s two paintings by Delacroix). They chose Aimé-Jules Dalou, a leading French sculptor, to create the over-life-size monument, which is located in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. Toledo’s sculpture is a unique bronze cast of the original small plaster model for the full-size monument.

Three figures form a vigorous ensemble that swirls upward toward the bust of the celebrated artist. Apollo, God of Poetry and Music (also identified as the Genius of Art) applauds while winged Time, a bearded old man, lifts Fame up to lay the wreath of everlasting glory beneath the bust of Delacroix. Delacroix is depicted with a sense of personality, his neck wrapped in a scarf to guard against catching a cold, a fear he always held.

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In Collection(s)