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拍品专文
Mentioned in academic articles since at least 1980, the present plaster group was published in full in 2003 as an abandoned first project for Pigalle's celebrated marble of 1749, the Enfant à la Cage (see Black, op. cit.). The Enfant was commissioned by Jean Paris de Montmartel, a wealthy court banker and godfather to Mme de Pompadour. It was to be a portrait of his infant son - later the Marquis de Brunoy - and intended as a pendant for an antique alabaster group already in de Montmartel's collection.
Pigalle's marble was shown at the Salon of 1750 to widespread acclaim. It differs from the present plaster in a number of small details, the most important of which is the inclusion of a dead bird in the foreground, and a string which trails over the edge of the base. The implication is that the child has either intentionally or accidentally strangled the bird, and his sense of bewilderment and loss was meant as a contrast to the antique alabaster group which depicted a laughing child holding a bird aloft.
The discovery during conservation work on the plaster that it was cast in three main sections, and that the buttocks of the seated child were fully formed and visible through an opening in the underside of the base led scholars to the conclusion that this was not merely a later variant cast of the 1749 marble, but a working model executed by Pigalle as a first project. The thought is that the patron, de Montmartel, probably found the narrative too macabre - especially as it was a portrait of his own son - and that Pigalle modified the composition before executing the marble which was shown at the Salon in 1750. Seemingly unknown in any other examples, the present plaster therefore represents an important record of the development of one of Pigalle's most celebrated compositions.
Pigalle's marble was shown at the Salon of 1750 to widespread acclaim. It differs from the present plaster in a number of small details, the most important of which is the inclusion of a dead bird in the foreground, and a string which trails over the edge of the base. The implication is that the child has either intentionally or accidentally strangled the bird, and his sense of bewilderment and loss was meant as a contrast to the antique alabaster group which depicted a laughing child holding a bird aloft.
The discovery during conservation work on the plaster that it was cast in three main sections, and that the buttocks of the seated child were fully formed and visible through an opening in the underside of the base led scholars to the conclusion that this was not merely a later variant cast of the 1749 marble, but a working model executed by Pigalle as a first project. The thought is that the patron, de Montmartel, probably found the narrative too macabre - especially as it was a portrait of his own son - and that Pigalle modified the composition before executing the marble which was shown at the Salon in 1750. Seemingly unknown in any other examples, the present plaster therefore represents an important record of the development of one of Pigalle's most celebrated compositions.