1 - Attributed to Louis Simon Boizot (1743–1809)

Attributed to Louis Simon Boizot (1743–1809) Virgin and Child Terracotta model Circa 1784 H. 50 cm Bears the letters “HAI” incised into the clay on the terrace Minor damage to the snake’s mouth and the toe of the Virgin’s right foot Provenance: - Art dealer, Paris; - Collection of Professor François Souchal; - by bequest. Related work: - Henri-Victor Roguier (1758–1841) under the direction of Louis Simon Boizot, The Virgin and Child, 1784, terracotta, H. 42 x W. 24.5 x D. 22 cm, Sèvres, Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, inv. MNC 12972. Related literature: - Edited by the Musée Lambinet, Louis-Simon Boizot: 1743–1809: Sculptor to the King and Director of the Sculpture Workshop at the Sèvres Manufactory, exhibition catalog from the exhibition held at the Lambinet Museum in Versailles, Oct. 23, 2001–Feb. 24, 2002, Paris: Somogy Éditions d’Art, 2001; - Tamara Préaud, Guilhem Scherf, *The Manufactory of the Enlightenment: Sculpture at Sèvres from Louis XV to the Revolution*, Dijon, Éditions Faton, 2015; related work listed under no. 192, p. 222. This significant terracotta Virgin and Child, modeled by Louis Simon Boizot around 1784, is an unpublished prototype for the famous statuette produced by the Sèvres Manufactory in a biscuit porcelain version beginning in 1785. It was part of the collection of art historian François Souchal, one of the leading specialists in 17th- and 18th-century French sculpture, and was accompanied by a bronze master model and two biscuit porcelain examples of the same subject. Very few religious subjects were produced by the famous Manufacture. Boizot, who served as director of the sculpture workshop from 1773 to 1780, designed only four, following the six created by his predecessor, Falconet. The Manufacture preserves a terracotta version of this model that is identical in every respect to the final bisque (The Virgin and Child, 1784, terracotta, H. 42 cm, Sèvres, Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, inv. MNC 12972). This example is documented as being the work of the sculptor Henri-Victor Roguier (1758–1841), who was employed at the Manufactory under Boizot’s direction. Our terracotta piece exhibits significant variations compared to the final version. In 1784, Boizot was working on the construction site of the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. There, in collaboration with Louis-Philippe Mouchy (1734–1801), he sculpted the Evangelists, allegorical groups for the main portal, as well as the decoration of the Baptistry Chapel and a Saint John the Baptist. It is highly likely that Boizot was impressed and moved by the grace of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle’s magnificent Virgin and Child, which has adorned the church’s choir since 1776. For his terracotta model, Boizot chose to depict the Virgin and Child both seated, unlike the final version produced by the Manufacture, in which the Infant Jesus is ultimately standing, arms outstretched, and without the cruciferous globe that he had previously held resting on his knee. All of Boizot’s sensitivity shines through in this early version. His delicacy is evident in the tender gestures that unite the two figures, in the refined rendering of the Virgin’s youthful face, and finally in the elegant classicism of the light drapery. The particularly affectionate gesture of the Infant Jesus, resting his arm on his mother’s shoulder here, was omitted in the final version in favor of a more frontal composition. The overall composition of the final work, which is more balanced, was prioritized at the expense of the tenderness of maternal love that emanates from this first terracotta model. As was often the case in the Manufacture’s production process, the sophisticated and complex composition proposed by Boizot was simplified so that the work could be produced in series via casting in a more economical manner. Our piece was undoubtedly modeled by Boizot beforehand, in his own studio, as a preliminary design—an initial concept from which the various stages of producing a Sèvres biscuit statuette would unfold. Expert: Cabinet Lacroix Jeannest