82 - CLODION Claude Michel (1738–1814), after

CLODION Claude Michel (1738–1814), after The Faun’s Family. Patinated terracotta cast. With matching pedestal. Height (without base): 48 cm Note: Claude Michel, known as Clodion (1738–1814), is considered one of the great French sculptors of the second half of the 18th century. A nephew of Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and a student of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, he won the Prix de Rome in 1759 and lived in Italy from 1762 to 1771. There he developed a remarkable mastery of terracotta modeling, favoring subjects inspired by antiquity: Bacchantes, satyrs, fauns, and nymphs make up a mythological world imbued with grace and sensuality. His works enjoyed considerable success among European collectors, including Catherine II of Russia, who attempted to lure him to her court. Today, with works represented notably at the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Clodion remains one of the major figures of French Rococo sculpture. This *Family of the Faun* revisits one of the characteristic themes of his repertoire.