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The J. Paul Getty Museum has recently acquired an important marble sculpture, Bust of Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré, by French Enlightenment sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Made at the height of Houdon's career, the bust was recently rediscovered after it disappeared from public view following the Salon of 1785.
This Neoclassical bust, which was probably commissioned by the sitter, captures Monsieur de Biré's likeness with candid detail. He appears to be in his fifties; his age is revealed by wrinkles encircling his eyes and soft jowls brushing his scarf. Biré's clothing and hair—styled with a long ponytail at the back—indicate his status as a high-ranking treasury official under Louis XVI. Aside from such trappings of status, though, his warm personality surfaces through his sparkly eyes and slightly smiling mouth.
Houdon's exacting attention to realism gave his sculptures a lifelike quality. To precisely render each sitter's likeness, Houdon measured the head and face with calipers and usually made a plaster "life mask" for reference. He modeled the bust first in clay and then made a plaster cast. From these initial studies, Houdon produced a final marble version, which reflected the spirit of the Enlightenment through its honest representation. Admired by Denis Diderot and other philosophers, Houdon's sculptures influenced European rulers by introducing them to prominent men and women of the period.
Bust of Marie-Sébastien-Charles-François Fontaine de Biré enhances the Museum's increasingly distinguished eighteenth-century French art and sculpture holdings.
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