Jean Antoine Idrac

JEAN ANTOINE IDRAC (Toulouse, 1849 - Paris, 1884)
"Salammbô and the snake" (Salammbô et le serpent). France.
After 1862 (after the publication of Gustave Flaubert's novel Salammbô).
Patinated bronze.
Marble base.
Signed on the bottom: A. IDRAC.
With foundry stamp on the right side "Thiébaut Frères, Fumière & Gavignot successeurs".
Museums: Chicago, Lille, Quimper, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles and Copenhagen.
Measurements: 51.5 x 19 x 19 cm; 57.5 cm (height with stand).

Jean Antoine Idrac developed a brief but brilliant career within the French academicism of the second half of the 19th century. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and a disciple of François Jouffroy and Alexandre Falguière, he won the Prix de Rome in 1877, which allowed him to complete his training at the Villa Médicis. His production is characterized by the refinement of the modeling, the elegance of the nude and a marked inclination towards literary and mythological themes, in full harmony with the official taste of the Parisian Salon.

The present work, "Salammbô et le serpent" (Salammbô and the Serpent), has its origins in Gustave Flaubert's famous historical novel Salammbô (1862), whose exotic setting in ancient Carthage had a profound influence on the visual arts of the time. Idrac presented a first plaster version at the 1881 Salon (now preserved in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse), followed by a marble version at the 1882 Salon, acquired by the French State, confirming the institutional relevance of the composition within his career.

The sculpture fully embodies the fin-de-siècle orientalist ideal: the female figure, treated with delicate naturalism, adopts a sinuous pose while the snake coils around her body, generating an elegant serpentine movement. The work combines sensuality and lyricism with a solid anatomical mastery, integrating literary exoticism with the classical tradition of the academic nude. The serpent, an ambiguous symbol of temptation and mysticism, reinforces the narrative and dramatic dimension of the whole.

The present example in patinated bronze, cast by the prestigious Parisian house Thiébaut Frères, Fumière & Gavignot successeurs, should be understood as an edition derived from the model presented at the Salon. These bronze reductions allowed the diffusion of the work among private collectors, consolidating its success beyond the strictly institutional sphere. The quality of the casting and the richness of the patina underline its value in late 19th century French sculpture.

Works by Idrac are held in important public collections, including museums in Chicago, Lille, Quimper, Paris, Toulouse, Versailles and Copenhagen, confirming the wide reception of the composition. A version of Salambó is preserved in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse. The author is also represented in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.