After Jean-Antoine Houdon

After JEAN-ANTOINE HOUDON (Versailles, 1741 - Paris, 1828), first half of the 19th century.
"Diana the Huntress".
Bust in white marble.
Measurements: 74 x 45 x 24 cm.
The neoclassical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon made several versions of the goddess Diana. This bust is based on Houdon's marble Diana preserved in the National Gallery in London. It dates from 1778, and a waning quarter moon adorns her head. Along with the bow and arrow, the moon is an attribute of the Roman goddess (the Greek Artemis), the goddess of the hunt being a lunar divinity. Likewise, the moon is an emblem of chastity. The feminine features convey a powerful and haughty temperament, both in the original and in the excellent version shown here, also made in white marble. Diana's turgid breasts are exposed naked and her head is turned to her right side, gazing into the distance. Her kinky hair is gathered with the crescent-shaped comb, her emblem. A full-length Diana by Houdon (Diana the Huntress, 1776) is preserved in the Louvre Museum.
Jean-Antoine Houdon was a French sculptor, a leading figure of the neoclassicism of his country. He stood out in his portraits by the search for individual character, which brought him closer to pre-Romanticism. A disciple of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle and Lemoyne, in 1764 he moved to Rome to complete his training. He devoted himself mainly to portraits, beginning the series with one of Diderot, in terracotta, followed by those of Mirabeau, D'Alembert, Molière, Voltaire, Rousseau and Franklin. The latter suggested to him the idea of traveling to the United States to portray Washington. Houdon arrived on the American continent in 1785 and, in addition to several busts of the president, he created the statue currently on display in the Capitol. During the French Revolution, he painted the faces of Necker, Lafayette and Napoleon.