DAVID d'Angers

The Romantic period saw a considerable development of the portrait. David d’Angers, who executed more than six hundred busts and medallions, was undoubtedly the artist with the biggest output. Around 1830 he made a series of colossal busts in which he was mainly concerned with the moral character of his models, the great romantic figures, such as Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Goethe and Victor Hugo. The exaggeration of the forehead and the cranium, the arrangement of the hair which nobly frames the face of Chateaubriand or radiates around Goethe’s as if it were electrified, the contrasts created by accentuating the eye sockets and the wrinkles make these portraits symbols of the creative power of genius.

David returned from Rome to France in July 1816 and was at once commissioned to do the statue of Cond� for the Pont de la Concorde. It had been ordered originally from his master Roland who, before his death, had just had the time to do the sketch. Executed rapidly, the model was exhibited at the 1817 Salon. The spirited, heroic attitude aroused the keenest admiration, also and above all the adoption of modern dress which David, breaking with tradition, had rendered with precision, without detracting from the overall effect.

David returned from Rome to France in July 1816 and was at once commissioned to do the statue of Cond� for the Pont de la Concorde. It had been ordered originally from his master Roland who, before his death, had just had the time to do the sketch. Executed rapidly, the model was exhibited at the 1817 Salon. The spirited, heroic attitude aroused the keenest admiration, also and above all the adoption of modern dress which David, breaking with tradition, had rendered with precision, without detracting from the overall effect.

A very large part of David’s production consisted of medallions. Sharing the taste for galleries of great men which originated the historical museum at Versailles in the same period, he modelled the effigies of his contemporaries over a lengthy period and in order to finish them he had no hesitation in leaving his position in Paris and undertaking a tour of Europe. There, too, he was mainly concerned with the character of his models, most of whom he showed in profile, a position enabling him to reproduce physical and moral characteristics more easily.

Fran�ois Arago was a French physicist who discovered the principle of the production of magnetism by rotation of a nonmagnetic conductor. He also devised an experiment that proved the wave theory of light and engaged with others in research that led to the discovery of the laws of light polarization.

This monument was erected in the church where republican soldiers had been imprisoned during the Vendean war. General Bonchamps pleaded for their pardon as he died. The base of the monument is engraved with the words: Pardon the prisoners.

During the first half of the 19th century, public monuments were chiefly reserved for famous historical figures and a few contemporaries noted for their scientific work or their virtues. David was profoundly convinced of the social and educational value of public sculpture and did his utmost to promote the erection of monuments to commemorate remarkable men. A typical example was the monument to Gutenberg.

David’dAngers was not attracted to female models and although he makes a concession to the feminity of Mlle Mars by giving her an elegant coiffure, crowned with a wreath of everlasting flowers, he cuts off the bust like e herm (a harsh treatment usually reserved for men) to concentrate on the animated physiognomy with mouth open as if the actress was on the stage.

David’s fame rests firmly on his pediment of the Pantheon, his marble Wounded Philopoemen in the Louvre and his monument to General Gobert in P�re-Lachaise Cemetery.

The Nereid reflects both the French influences, from Jean Goujon to Girodet, which had marked David’s schooling, and his admiration for Canova. The deliberate opposition between the Nereid’s smooth body, all in unnatural curves and torsions, and her pleated drapery suggestive of gushing water, gave rise to a mannerism further emphasized by the linearity of the relief.

Around 1830 David d’Angers made a series of colossal busts, among them the famous Romantic virtuoso, Paganini.

Niccolò Paganini, (Genoa, October 27, 1782 - Nice, May 27, 1840) was a violinist and composer. He was one of the most famous virtuosi of his day, and is considered to be one of the greatest violinists ever, with absolute pitch and perfect intonation, expressive bowing techniques and new uses of staccato and pizzicato techniques.

Listen to an example of Paganini’s music.

The church of Ste-Genevi�ve had been subjected to several secularisation to become a Panth�on fran�ais, a public building containing tombs of or memorials to the heroes of the Revolution. The commission for the new pediment was given in 1830.

David d’Angers places the allegorical figure of Patria in the centre. On her right sits Libert�, handing to her the crowns to be awarded to the great men. Seated opposite her, Histoire notes in the book of history the names of those thus distinguished. Whereas she is surrounded by numerous people representing French culture and intellectual history, the other side of the pediment contains French military figures, none of whom carries individual features except Napoleon Bonaparte, who is singled out in this way.

The fa�ade bore the inscription “To Great Men. A Grateful Fatherland.”

The church of Ste-Genevi�ve had been subjected to several secularisation to become a Panth�on fran�ais, a public building containing tombs of or memorials to the heroes of the Revolution. The commission for the new pediment was given in 1830.

David d’Angers places the allegorical figure of Patria in the centre. On her right sits Libert�, handing to her the crowns to be awarded to the great men. Seated opposite her, Histoire notes in the book of history the names of those thus distinguished. Whereas she is surrounded by numerous people representing French culture and intellectual history, the other side of the pediment contains French military figures, none of whom carries individual features except Napoleon Bonaparte, who is singled out in this way.

The fa�ade bore the inscription “To Great Men. A Grateful Fatherland.”

In February 1811, with his Sorrow, David d’Angers won the price for an expressive head and in the autumn he was awarded the Prix de Rome.

In Rome Canova exerted a strong influence on the French artists which is reflected by this relief of David d’Angers.

The Milhomme figure of Grief in the P�re-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris begot many more of the same kind, but the scenes of affliction came to an end with the years 1820-25. They were replaced either by recumbent effigies, after 1840, or by reliefs modifying the theme so as to bring out the idea of separation. In most of these, the survivor communes at the grave of the departed. In the P�re-Lachaise Cemetery a fine example of this style, inspired by antique models and made fashionable by Houdon and Canova, is the tomb of the Comte de Bourcke, affirms Christian faith in resurrection, ‘Expectantes beatem spem’, but in a widely disseminated engraving this was amended to read ‘Expecta me’, stressing the relations of the spouses.

David d’Angers sought to move away from classical themes. One of his most striking was the highly modern image of a naked Greek girl. This was designed for the tomb of the Greek freedom fighter Botsaris, who was killed at Missolonghi.

The Young Shepherd, as we know from a sketch, had been originally intended to include a slaughtered kid at its feet - which motivated the earnest expression of the face. This figure is very much in the antique manner, but it was conceived with a fresh simplicity and naturalness (see the hand stroking the ear).