Night and Day

James Pradier conceived the antecedents for the present figures emblematic of Night and Day. Compare a pair of similar pendant figures, Étoile du Berger, Le Jour and Étoile du Berger, La Nuit created by Pradier in 1846 and a nearly identical pair Le Jour and La Nuit, attributed to him (C. Lapaire, James Pradier (1790-1852) et la sculpture française de la génération romantique, Milan, 2010, p. 358 no. 292-293 and p. 440-441, no. 538-539). All were likely inspired by the compositions of Joseph-Michel-Ange Pollet (1814-1870) who, in 1848, showed a large plaster group at the Salon, Une Heure de la Nuit (no. 4875), which anticipates the graceful curves of the present sculptures. Pietrò Franchi worked in Carrara during the third quarter of the 19th century and specialised in creating marble copies of both celebrated sculpture from Antiquity and, as here, famous contemporary works of the day.