Count Artur Potocki

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Count Artur Potocki

Artist Bertel Thorvaldsen Danish, 1770-1844

Datemodeled 1829, executed 1830-1833

Dimensionswith 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)

Mediummarble

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1991.64

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 31

Collections

Sculpture

Published References

Sass, Else Kai, Thorvaldsens Portraetbuster, Copenhagen, 1963-65, vol. I, pp. 534, 536, vol. II, pp. 221-230, 375, vol. III, no. 150, II.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Annual Report July 1, 1991 - June 30, 1992, p. 20, repr.

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Treasures, Toledo, 1995, p. 114, repr. (col.).

Berkowitz, Roger M., "Selected Acquisitions Made by the Toledo Museum of Art, 1990-2001," Burlington, vol. 143, no. 1177, April, 2001, p. 258, fig. IV (col.).

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 232, repr. (col.).

Label TextWhen 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 Łańcut, in southeastern Poland. The cloak and sword strap were devices adapted from ancient Roman portraits of emperors. 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.