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拍品專文
In 1746 the States-General of Brittany commissioned Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne to create a monumental statue of Louis XV for the Place Royale of Rennes. The statue was to honor the king following his recent illness and to show the province's loyalty to him. Within two years, Lemoyne submitted at least four different models from which the committee could choose. The final design, cast in bronze and inaugurated in 1754, depicted the King standing on a pedestal flanked by two allegorical women representing the province of Brittany, and Hygie, goddess of Health. The bronze monument, now known from medals and print sources, was destroyed during the French Revolution (see Wardropper, op. cit. p. 30).
The present terracotta is one of two surviving examples which present Lemoyne's initial concept of the monument as a single figure. The other model, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, is considered to Lemoyne's working bozetto. It is rougher, less stylized and slightly larger than the present more finished version. Wardropper suggests that "Lemoyne --or, more likely an assistant made this copy for a patron...This close resemblance [to the Chicago model] makes it unlikely that the smaller piece was one of the models exhibited in 1748; they were described as being 'four different models,' and the point of the exercise must have been to present the States-General with a choice" (op. cit. p. 31-2).
The present terracotta is one of two surviving examples which present Lemoyne's initial concept of the monument as a single figure. The other model, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, is considered to Lemoyne's working bozetto. It is rougher, less stylized and slightly larger than the present more finished version. Wardropper suggests that "Lemoyne --or, more likely an assistant made this copy for a patron...This close resemblance [to the Chicago model] makes it unlikely that the smaller piece was one of the models exhibited in 1748; they were described as being 'four different models,' and the point of the exercise must have been to present the States-General with a choice" (op. cit. p. 31-2).