Giuseppe Balsamo, Comte di Cagliostro
Medium
marble
Dimensions
overall without base: 62.9 x 58.9 x 34.3 cm (24 3/4 x 23 3/16 x 13 1/2 in.) gross weight: 285 lb. (129.275 kg)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Samuel H. Kress Collection
Accession Number
1952.5.103
Art Historical Context
Jean-Antoine Houdon’s marble bust of Giuseppe Balsamo, Comte di Cagliostro, created in 1786, exemplifies the French sculptor’s mastery of neoclassical portraiture. Houdon was celebrated for his ability to capture both physical likeness and inner character, producing works that feel remarkably alive. Here, the subject—an enigmatic Italian adventurer and self-proclaimed mystic—appears with piercing eyes and a composed, almost theatrical presence, inviting viewers to ponder the man behind the legend. Carved from a single block of marble, the sculpture showcases Houdon’s technical precision in re...
About the Artist
Jean-Antoine Houdon · 1741–1828
Houdon studied under Slodtz, Pigalle, and Lemoyne at the ancienne école académique and at the age of twenty won the Prix de Rome. Three years later, Houdon obtained a residency at the Académie de France in Rome, and in Italy, he discovered the newly uncovered works at Herculaneum and Pompeii as well as works of the Renaissance sculptors, especially Michelangelo. A year after his return to Paris in...