Le Sacrifice à l'Amour (The Sacrifice to Cupid)

Clodion (Claude Michel), French, 1738 - 1814

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about 1765-70

Marble

Overall: 10 1/2 × 12 3/16 in. (26.7 × 30.9 cm)

Frame: 14 3/16 × 15 13/16 × 1 3/8 in. (36 × 40.2 × 3.5 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Roger Arvid Anderson Collection; acquired through a gift from Evelyn A. and William B. Jaffe, Class of 1964H, by exchange

2016.63.12

Geography

Place Made: France, Europe

Period

1600-1800

Object Name

Sculpture

Research Area

Sculpture

On view

Inscriptions

Signed, in stone, lower left: CLODION.inv.

Label

Two women, dressed in clinging garments, approach an altar on which stands a small statue of Cupid, the god of love. One woman uses her torch to light a fire. At the same time, she pours out a liquid offering. This sculpture evokes the classical imagery of Greece and Rome in both its representation and its low relief carving. The sculpture also perpetuates the traditions of the Renaissance, during which artists made reliefs that echoed the works of the ancient world. Having spent time in Rome, Clodion would have been familiar with both traditions, placing himself in dialogue with artists of the past while creating a charming scene to appeal to his contemporary audiences.

Written in 2024 by Elizabeth rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art

Course History

ARTH 41.03, European Art 1750 - 1850, Allan Doyle, Summer 2019

Exhibition History

Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 7-September 9, 2001.

Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 12, 2024.

Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 17, 2000-April 15, 2001.

Publication History

T. Barton Thurber, "Survival and Revival of the Classical Tradition: Antiquity in Rome from the Baroque Era to the Age of Enlightenment." In T. Barton Thurber and Adrian W.B. Randolph, Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2001, pp. 57-59, ill. p.58, listed p.73.

Roger Arvid Anderson, The Roger Arvid Anderson Collection, Medals, Medallions, Plaquettes and Small Reliefs, Paintings, Sculpture, Works on Paper and Textiles, San Francisco: Roger Arvid Anderson (published privately), design by David L. Wilson, 2015, p. 273.

Provenance

Trinity Fine Art Ltd., London, in association with Newhouse Galleries, New York, 1995; acquired by Roger Arvid Anderson, San Francisco, date unknown; lent to present collection,1998; sold to present collection, 2016.

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Subjects

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