After Jean-Antoine Houdon

After JEAN-ANTOINE HOUDON (Versailles, 1741 - Paris, 1828), ca.1830-1840.
"Voltaire" and "Rousseau".
Two bronze sculptures.
Siena marble pedestals.
Measurements: 48.5 cm. total height; 32 cm. sculpture + 14 x 14 cm. pedestal.
The two bronze sculptures denote a deep psychological insight. They probably represent Voltaire and Rousseau, two key figures of the French intelligentsia of the revolutionary period. Both were portrayed by Jean-Antoine Houdon, one of the greatest portraitists among the sculptors of the time. These figures are inspired by his marble and bronze busts. Voltaire's features are severe and impenetrable. An inner energy seems to exalt his bearing. Rousseau has also been portrayed with faithful truthfulness, with a somewhat more reserved appearance, also captured in his mature age. His deep-set eyes look sharp. Realism is also applied to the description of the doublets and brocades.
Jean-Antoine Houdon was a French sculptor and a leading figure in French Neoclassicism. His portraits were notable for their search for individual character, which brought him close to pre-Romanticism. A pupil of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle and Lemoyne, he moved to Rome in 1764 to complete his training. He devoted himself chiefly to portraiture, beginning the series with a portrait of Diderot in terracotta, followed by those of Mirabeau, D'Alembert, Molière, Voltaire, Rousseau and Franklin. The latter suggested to him the idea of travelling to the United States to portray Washington. Houdon arrived on the American continent in 1785 and, in addition to several busts of the president, produced the statue now on display in the Capitol. During the French Revolution, he painted the faces of Necker, Lafayette and Napoleon. Also noteworthy is his elegant Diana the Huntress (1776), in the classicist style.