GENERAL DESCRIPTION
French sculptor Antoine-Augustin Préault created eerie contrasts of shadow and light in this composition featuring merely a face and a hand. Linear drapery enshrouds the androgynous figure’s face, drawing attention to its gaunt features, half-closed eyes, and skeletal hand. A finger lifted to the lips is a gesture commonly found in ancient funerary sculpture that glorified the dead. Portraiture or reliefs bearing images of the deceased performing this gesture were intended to conjure pleasant memories, but Silence, with its brutal evocation of frailty and death, breaks from the well-established canon.
Préault designed Silence for Jacob Roblès’ tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which is the city’s largest and most famous burial ground. The medallion’s compositional elements combine to convey a somber nature perfect for the purpose of a tomb. Its superb round, dark hardwood frame with a deep ogee, or S-shaped molding, enhances the sculpture’s dimensionality and melancholy theme.
Excerpt from
DMA Label copy
NOTES
c. 1842
Checked Piction
Add Preault as the depicted individual in 2015.61.1-3
Related Objects:
2015.61.1 Nadar, Portrait of Auguste Preault
2015.61.2 Nadar, Portrait of Auguste Preault
2015.61.3 Leopold Massard, Portrait bust of Antoine-Augustin Preault
Acquisition Justification?
The French sculptor Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809-1879) was one of the most talented sculptors working in Paris in the mid-1800s. In 1842, he made the circular relief medallion under consideration giving it the title Silence. Made of patinated plaster, the image epitomizes the spirit of Romanticism that characterizes Préault’s oeuvre. A superb round dark hardwood wood frame with a deep ogee enhances the sculpture’s dimensionality and melancholy theme.
Préault’s first teacher was an ornamental carver who worked primarily in copper using a technique called repoussé. Later he trained in the studio of Pierre-Jean David d’Angers who was a leading sculptor acclaimed for his bronze medallions. These two teachers’ influences are readily seen in Silence.
Préault found success making small portrait medallions that felt d’Angers’ inspiration. By the time he debuted at the 1833 Salon, he was associated with the French Romanticism. As a result, his pieces often reflected socially conscious subject matters. Over the course of a career that spanned more than five decades, the artist produced approximately two hundred works with one of the best known being the bas-relief Slaughter (Tuerie). He earned a Silver Medal at the 1849 Salon and become a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1870. Employment of bold forms, daring compositions and subject matter that emphasize extreme physical and emotional conditions are hallmarks of Préault’s works. All of these elements are found in the sculpture under consideration.
The sculptor originally designed Silence in terra cotta. Then a master carver used that piece as a template to make a marble headstone for Jacob Roblès’ tomb in the Jewish section of the Père Lachaise Cemetery, which is the largest and most famous burial ground in Paris. Based on his original terra cotta design, Préault then cast a dozen like-sized versions in plaster; two in bronze and a series of engravings of Roblès’ tomb were also made.
With Silence, the sculptor created eerie contrasts of shadow and light in a composition comprised of merely a face and hand. Linear drapery wraps the visage in a shroud to draw attention to its gaunt features, skeletal hand and half-closed eyes. These elements combine together to express the somber nature of the tomb’s purpose. A finger lifted to the lips is a gesture found in funerary iconography dating back to antiquity. Ancient mortuary traditions glorified the deceased with portraiture or reliefs bearing images of the deceased intended to conjure pleasant memories, but Silence, with its brutal evocation of frailty and death, brakes away from the well-established canon.
At the first retrospective of Préault's work, organized by the Musée d’Orsay in 1997, critics praised Silence for its success symbolizing the impassable frontier separating the world of the living and the dead. This particular sculpture may be the only one known to be in its original frame. Unframed white plaster versions of Silence are held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of. Institutions owning other works by Préault are The Hirshhorn (a series of small portrait medallions), Princeton University (a model for the Schoelcher tomb) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Jupiter and the Sphinx, Venus and the Sphinx, and The Actor Rouvière in the Role of Hamlet recoiling before the Ghost).
By adding Silence to our collection, the DMA joins the few American institutions owning a Préault sculpture. It strengthens our assortment of European Romantic works that include Chassériau’s painting Battle of Arab Horsemen Around a Standard (2003.40.FA), Barye’s bronze Turkish Horse (1976.6.FA), Delacroix Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban (2005.34.McD) and Biard’s canvas Seasickness Onboard and English Corvette (2011.27). Silence broadens the museum’s array of French Barbizon pieces comprised of Corot, Millet, Rousseau and others. Finally, Silence’s striking subject matter, media and technique will enhance our holdings of European sculpture.
1 Romanticism was a popular literary and artistic movement during the mid-1800s.
2 Repoussé is a metalworking technique whereby malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a relief design.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Préault, Antoine-Augustin (French, 1809-1879)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Patinated plaster
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris~View another sculpture by Antoine-Augustin Préault
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- Préault designed Silence for Jacob Roblès’ tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris Other important figures buried at this cemetary include Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin, and Jim Morrison.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 2014.10
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
French sculptor Antoine-Augustin Préault created eerie contrasts of shadow and light in this composition featuring merely a face and a hand. Linear drapery enshrouds the androgynous figure’s face, drawing attention to its gaunt features, half-closed eyes, and skeletal hand. A finger lifted to the lips is a gesture commonly found in ancient funerary sculpture that glorified the dead. Portraiture or reliefs bearing images of the deceased performing this gesture were intended to conjure pleasant memories, but Silence, with its brutal evocation of frailty and death, breaks from the well-established canon.
Préault designed Silence for Jacob Roblès’ tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, which is the city’s largest and most famous burial ground. The medallion’s compositional elements combine to convey a somber nature perfect for the purpose of a tomb. Its superb round, dark hardwood frame with a deep ogee, or S-shaped molding, enhances the sculpture’s dimensionality and melancholy theme.
Excerpt from
DMA Label copy
Fun Facts
- Préault designed Silence for Jacob Roblès’ tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris Other important figures buried at this cemetary include Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin, and Jim Morrison.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
c. 1842
Checked Piction
Add Preault as the depicted individual in 2015.61.1-3
Related Objects:
2015.61.1 Nadar, Portrait of Auguste Preault
2015.61.2 Nadar, Portrait of Auguste Preault
2015.61.3 Leopold Massard, Portrait bust of Antoine-Augustin Preault
Acquisition Justification?
The French sculptor Antoine-Augustin Préault (1809-1879) was one of the most talented sculptors working in Paris in the mid-1800s. In 1842, he made the circular relief medallion under consideration giving it the title Silence. Made of patinated plaster, the image epitomizes the spirit of Romanticism that characterizes Préault’s oeuvre. A superb round dark hardwood wood frame with a deep ogee enhances the sculpture’s dimensionality and melancholy theme.
Préault’s first teacher was an ornamental carver who worked primarily in copper using a technique called repoussé. Later he trained in the studio of Pierre-Jean David d’Angers who was a leading sculptor acclaimed for his bronze medallions. These two teachers’ influences are readily seen in Silence.
Préault found success making small portrait medallions that felt d’Angers’ inspiration. By the time he debuted at the 1833 Salon, he was associated with the French Romanticism. As a result, his pieces often reflected socially conscious subject matters. Over the course of a career that spanned more than five decades, the artist produced approximately two hundred works with one of the best known being the bas-relief Slaughter (Tuerie). He earned a Silver Medal at the 1849 Salon and become a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1870. Employment of bold forms, daring compositions and subject matter that emphasize extreme physical and emotional conditions are hallmarks of Préault’s works. All of these elements are found in the sculpture under consideration.
The sculptor originally designed Silence in terra cotta. Then a master carver used that piece as a template to make a marble headstone for Jacob Roblès’ tomb in the Jewish section of the Père Lachaise Cemetery, which is the largest and most famous burial ground in Paris. Based on his original terra cotta design, Préault then cast a dozen like-sized versions in plaster; two in bronze and a series of engravings of Roblès’ tomb were also made.
With Silence, the sculptor created eerie contrasts of shadow and light in a composition comprised of merely a face and hand. Linear drapery wraps the visage in a shroud to draw attention to its gaunt features, skeletal hand and half-closed eyes. These elements combine together to express the somber nature of the tomb’s purpose. A finger lifted to the lips is a gesture found in funerary iconography dating back to antiquity. Ancient mortuary traditions glorified the deceased with portraiture or reliefs bearing images of the deceased intended to conjure pleasant memories, but Silence, with its brutal evocation of frailty and death, brakes away from the well-established canon.
At the first retrospective of Préault's work, organized by the Musée d’Orsay in 1997, critics praised Silence for its success symbolizing the impassable frontier separating the world of the living and the dead. This particular sculpture may be the only one known to be in its original frame. Unframed white plaster versions of Silence are held at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Detroit Institute of. Institutions owning other works by Préault are The Hirshhorn (a series of small portrait medallions), Princeton University (a model for the Schoelcher tomb) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Jupiter and the Sphinx, Venus and the Sphinx, and The Actor Rouvière in the Role of Hamlet recoiling before the Ghost).
By adding Silence to our collection, the DMA joins the few American institutions owning a Préault sculpture. It strengthens our assortment of European Romantic works that include Chassériau’s painting Battle of Arab Horsemen Around a Standard (2003.40.FA), Barye’s bronze Turkish Horse (1976.6.FA), Delacroix Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban (2005.34.McD) and Biard’s canvas Seasickness Onboard and English Corvette (2011.27). Silence broadens the museum’s array of French Barbizon pieces comprised of Corot, Millet, Rousseau and others. Finally, Silence’s striking subject matter, media and technique will enhance our holdings of European sculpture.
1 Romanticism was a popular literary and artistic movement during the mid-1800s.
2 Repoussé is a metalworking technique whereby malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a relief design.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Préault, Antoine-Augustin (French, 1809-1879)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Patinated plaster
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
2014.10
source file
object_notes_2_d-0321.xml.nores