CLÉSINGER, Auguste

Under the Second Empire there were a large number of commissions for the interior decoration of churches Frescoes, paintings, and sculptures). Artists generally enjoyed greatest freedom in the interior decoration than in decorating the outer fa�ades. Cl�singer’s Angel is an example in which the artist gave free rein to a lyricism that was particularly expressive in the drapery.

Madame Sabatier was a professional model. Cl�singer’s statue of Madame Sabatier (La femme piqu�e) provoked one of the liveliest art scandals of the nineteenth century.

This bronze was cast in the workshop of Ferdinand Barbedienne.

This work was exhibited at the Salon of 1847.

This is a reduced sized bronze version of the famous marble composition by Cl�singer.

This work was exhibited at the 1847 Salon. The statue was based on a body cast of Mme. Sabatier, and provoked one of the liveliest art scandals of the nineteenth century.

The artist’s model was Baudelaire’s muse, Apollonie Sabatier (1822-1890), a Parisian beauty who held a salon in Paris and was familiarly known as “La Pr�sidente”; in lending her body to Cl�singer she brought him unhoped-for success.

The original marble Zingara or Woman with Tambourine was executed by Cl�singer in 1857. It was one of his eight submissions to the 1859 Paris Salon.