GENERAL DESCRIPTION
A pupil of sculptor François Rude and an early teacher of Auguste Rodin, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux holds a central position in the history of French romantic sculpture of the 19th century. Ugolino and His Children is clearly informed by the masterworks of Michelangelo as well as the Hellenistic and Roman sculpture Carpeaux studied during his year in Italy as the recipient of the coveted Prix de Rome in 1854. The dramatic and macabre subject drawn from Dante's "Inferno" is typical of romanticism: Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, the tyrannical 13th-century master of Pisa, has been condemned to starve, and he staves off hunger by devouring his sons. The moment depicted is pregnant with tension and drama: Ugolino is in anguish as his sons desperately plead to sacrifice themselves rather than watch their father suffer. Carpeaux struggled with this exceedingly complex figural group, producing a number of versions. The French academy attacked his emphasis on the male nude as well as the bizarre theme, but in the end accepted a bronze version of the sculpture. The controversy around Ugolino boosted Carpeaux’s career, leading to a number of prominent commissions and securing an ongoing demand for reproductions of this work. A plaster version of the work is in the Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Ironically the controversy around the Ugolino sculpture boosted Carpeaux's career, leading to prominent public commissions such as The Dance for the façade of the Paris Opera. Meanwhile, demand for the Ugolino group continued. In addition to full-scale versions in plaster, terra-cotta, and marble, Carpeaux executed a smaller-scale model, which was cast in various media in several editions dating from the artist's lifetime until the present.
Adapted from
- Dorothy Kosinski, "Ugolino and His Sons", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 108.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2012.
NOTES
n.d., cast c.1860
27 × 15 1/4 × 11 3/8 in. (68.58 × 38.74 × 28.89 cm)
Sculpture: 21 × 13 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (53.34 × 34.29 × 26.67 cm)
Base: 6 × 15 1/4 × 11 3/8 in. (15.24 × 38.74 × 28.89 cm)
Other is
Overall: 19 x 14 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. (48.26 x 37.47 x 27 cm)
Checked Piction
Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 23.
Rodin's The Thinker (Musée Rodin, Paris) and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Ugolino and His Sons were the most famous French sculptures of the 19th century. The relationship between the two is direct, and there is little doubt that Rodin intended to quote Carpeaux's masterpiece when creating the central image for his unfinished work "The Gates of Hell" (final assembly 1917, Musée Rodin, Paris).
Carpeaux created Ugolino and His Sons in Rome, where he was working with financial assistance from the French government; he exhibited the large version in the official Salon of 1861. By 1867, the image had become so popular that the sculptor decided to create various smaller versions, including a sublime bronze reduction, a rare early cast of which is in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. He also seemed fascinated with the reproduction of his clay and plaster studies for the final work. The Reves plaster is probably based on an earlier study for the full-scale Salon sculpture. In the final version, Carpeaux included three of Ugolino's sons, who seem to offer themselves to their brooding father, who, as we know from Dante, consumes them so that he can live. In the Reves plaster, only two of the sons are shown, suggested to some scholars that this work was made in preparation for the final composition.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to conclude that the Reves plaster was among those made in Rome when Carpeaux was completing his conception of this masterpiece. It seems likely that this plaster was made in the late 1860s or early 1870s, when Carpeaux allowed many bronzes and plasters of his famous figure to be cast for the art market. The white plaster was tinted with a dull reddish brown, undoubtedly so that it would appear to be a terracotta produced in the artist's Roman studio as he finalized the composition. As an apparent study, it has the status of a "sketch," and the artist's subtlest processes of thought are caught forever in plaster.
Interestingly, Rodin owned a plaster cast of Carpeaux's Ugolino and His Sons. He seems to have acquired it in the late 1860s or early 1870s and used it as the basis for a group of drawings made in the 1870s. He used these in conjunction with the plaster itself as the basis for his monumental male nude, The Thinker.
Related Object: 1981.42.FA Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ugolino and his Children
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste (French, 1827-1875)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Rome (Italy): TGN: 7000874
Process/materials
Plaster, stained reddish brown
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
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PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York~Read a biography of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux from the Met.
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General Description
A pupil of sculptor François Rude and an early teacher of Auguste Rodin, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux holds a central position in the history of French romantic sculpture of the 19th century. Ugolino and His Children is clearly informed by the masterworks of Michelangelo as well as the Hellenistic and Roman sculpture Carpeaux studied during his year in Italy as the recipient of the coveted Prix de Rome in 1854. The dramatic and macabre subject drawn from Dante's "Inferno" is typical of romanticism: Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, the tyrannical 13th-century master of Pisa, has been condemned to starve, and he staves off hunger by devouring his sons. The moment depicted is pregnant with tension and drama: Ugolino is in anguish as his sons desperately plead to sacrifice themselves rather than watch their father suffer. Carpeaux struggled with this exceedingly complex figural group, producing a number of versions. The French academy attacked his emphasis on the male nude as well as the bizarre theme, but in the end accepted a bronze version of the sculpture. The controversy around Ugolino boosted Carpeaux’s career, leading to a number of prominent commissions and securing an ongoing demand for reproductions of this work. A plaster version of the work is in the Reves Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art.
Ironically the controversy around the Ugolino sculpture boosted Carpeaux's career, leading to prominent public commissions such as The Dance for the façade of the Paris Opera. Meanwhile, demand for the Ugolino group continued. In addition to full-scale versions in plaster, terra-cotta, and marble, Carpeaux executed a smaller-scale model, which was cast in various media in several editions dating from the artist's lifetime until the present.
Adapted from
- Dorothy Kosinski, "Ugolino and His Sons", in Dallas Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collection, ed. Suzanne Kotz (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 1997), 108.
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2012.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
n.d., cast c.1860
27 × 15 1/4 × 11 3/8 in. (68.58 × 38.74 × 28.89 cm)
Sculpture: 21 × 13 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (53.34 × 34.29 × 26.67 cm)
Base: 6 × 15 1/4 × 11 3/8 in. (15.24 × 38.74 × 28.89 cm)
Other is
Overall: 19 x 14 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. (48.26 x 37.47 x 27 cm)
Checked Piction
Richard Brettell, Impressionist Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 23.
Rodin's The Thinker (Musée Rodin, Paris) and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Ugolino and His Sons were the most famous French sculptures of the 19th century. The relationship between the two is direct, and there is little doubt that Rodin intended to quote Carpeaux's masterpiece when creating the central image for his unfinished work "The Gates of Hell" (final assembly 1917, Musée Rodin, Paris).
Carpeaux created Ugolino and His Sons in Rome, where he was working with financial assistance from the French government; he exhibited the large version in the official Salon of 1861. By 1867, the image had become so popular that the sculptor decided to create various smaller versions, including a sublime bronze reduction, a rare early cast of which is in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art. He also seemed fascinated with the reproduction of his clay and plaster studies for the final work. The Reves plaster is probably based on an earlier study for the full-scale Salon sculpture. In the final version, Carpeaux included three of Ugolino's sons, who seem to offer themselves to their brooding father, who, as we know from Dante, consumes them so that he can live. In the Reves plaster, only two of the sons are shown, suggested to some scholars that this work was made in preparation for the final composition.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to conclude that the Reves plaster was among those made in Rome when Carpeaux was completing his conception of this masterpiece. It seems likely that this plaster was made in the late 1860s or early 1870s, when Carpeaux allowed many bronzes and plasters of his famous figure to be cast for the art market. The white plaster was tinted with a dull reddish brown, undoubtedly so that it would appear to be a terracotta produced in the artist's Roman studio as he finalized the composition. As an apparent study, it has the status of a "sketch," and the artist's subtlest processes of thought are caught forever in plaster.
Interestingly, Rodin owned a plaster cast of Carpeaux's Ugolino and His Sons. He seems to have acquired it in the late 1860s or early 1870s and used it as the basis for a group of drawings made in the 1870s. He used these in conjunction with the plaster itself as the basis for his monumental male nude, The Thinker.
Related Object: 1981.42.FA Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Ugolino and his Children
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste (French, 1827-1875)
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Rome (Italy): TGN: 7000874
Process/materials
Plaster, stained reddish brown
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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