The Death of Dido

The son of a sculptor, Claude-Augustin Cayot was born in Paris in 1667 and is recorded as having won first prize for his bas-relief sculptures at the Academie Française in both 1695 and 1696. Eventually reaching the position of ‘Sculpteur Ordinaire du Roi’, Cayot was made an Academician on 31^st December 1711 thanks to his submission of a marble version of The Death of Dido, now in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. MR 1780). The composition, upon which the present bronze is based, depicts a moment of high drama demonstrating the theatricality of French rococo style which Cayot adopted in his works.

Shown here is Dido, founder and Queen of Carthage, who fell passionately in love with Aeneas, son of Venus, Trojan hero, wandering in search of his future kingdom. The couple became a point of contention for the gods of Olympus. Mercury, sent from Jupiter, demanded that Aeneas resume his journey. Dido learning of the escape of her lover plunged his sword into her chest and her funeral pyre lit up the Carthaginian sky.

A second bronze version of The Death of Dido forms part of the Hermitage Museum collection, Saint Petersburg (inv. no. H.CK-2186). From photographs, the Hermitage example is cast in the same way as the present bronze thus suggesting that they were made in the same foundry.

The 'C' couronné poinçon was a tax mark employed on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.