Bust of Christoph Willibald Von Gluck (1714-1787)

Houdon, Jean-Antoine (1741-1828)

Item type:

sculpture

Date of creation:

ca. 1775

Height:

49.5 cm  (19 1/2 in.)

Width:

40.0 cm  (15 3/4 in.)

Depth:

28.5 cm  (11 1/4 in.)

Including the base, the height is 64 cm.

Technique / Medium:

terracotta on marble base

Place of creation:

France

Description

An unidealised head and shoulders portrait bust, with the subject's head turned to his left.

People as subjects

Gluck, Christoph Willibald Ritter von (1714-1787) (Composer portrait)

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Poulet, Anne L. Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment (Washington: National Gallery of Art; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003) 108.

Notes

This strikingly unidealized portrait bust of the composer was probably produced in connection with a commission for a large-scale marble statue from the Academie de musique (i.e. the Paris Opera). That work was destroyed by the fire at the Opera in 1783. For details of related works, see Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment by Anne L. Poulet, pp. 105-108.

RIdIM record id

2057