Following Claude Michel Clodion's models; 19th century.

Following models of CLAUDE MICHEL CLODION (Nancy, 1738 - Paris, 1814); France, end of the 19th century.
"Bacchus" and "Ariadne".
Patinated bronze, brass, alabaster and marble.
One of them has losses in the alabaster.
Measurements: 33 x 12 x 11 cm (x2).
Pair of bronze busts representing Bacchus and Ariadne. The story of Bacchus and Ariadne comes from Greco-Roman mythology. Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos after helping him defeat the Minotaur. There she was found by Bacchus, who fell in love with her and made her his wife, raising her to the firmament with a crown of stars.
The bronze busts representing them, inspired by Clodion's style, reflect the strong influence of classicism in the neoclassical art of the 18th century. Clodion, known for his mastery of mythological themes and his delicate modeling, recreated figures with great sensuality and movement. These sculptures evoke classical aesthetics in their idealization of beauty, attention to detail in hair and expressions, and direct allusion to mythological themes, essential elements of the Greco-Roman legacy.

Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was born in Nancy, but in 1755 he moved to Paris to study in the workshop of his uncle, the sculptor Lambert Sigisbert Adam, with whom he remained for four years. After his death, he became a disciple of Jean Baptiste Pigalle, Madame de Pompadour's favorite sculptor. Soon his work began to be recognized, and in 1759 he won the grand prize for sculpture at the Académie Royale. In 1761 he was awarded the first silver medal for studies on models, and a year later he obtained the Grand Prix of the Royal Academy, consisting of a pension to extend his training in Italy. In Rome Clodion developed an intense activity between 1767 and 1771. Back in Paris he established his own workshop, where he worked with his brothers representing mythological scenes, groups of dancers, nymphs and bathers, in a language somewhere between Rococo and Neoclassicism. His works were in great demand, from the Parisian salons to Catherine II of Russia. Clodion's works are preserved in the Louvre (Paris), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), the Victoria & Albert Museum (London), the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the Frick Collection (New York) and the Kimbell Museum (Forth Worth, Texas), among many others.