Portrait of Marguerite Simon
Medium
bronze, cast -- single
Dimensions
Diameter: 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Samuel P. Avery, 1893
Accession Number
93.10.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jules-Clément Chaplain’s *Portrait of Marguerite Simon* (1888) is a finely cast bronze medal that captures the delicate profile of a young girl. Measuring just over four inches in diameter, the work exemplifies the intimate scale of the medal format, which allows for precise detail in a portable object. The composition features a graceful profile view accented by floral motifs, lending a sense of freshness and natural elegance to the portrait. Chaplain, a leading French medallist of the late nineteenth century, played a central role in reviving the art of struck and cast medals as a respected...
About the Artist
Jules-Clément Chaplain · 1839–1909
Jules-Clément Chaplain (1839–1909) was a French engraver and medallist who became the most celebrated practitioner of the art medal in late nineteenth-century France. Born in Mortagne-au-Perche in Normandy, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jouffroy and Oudiné and won the Prix de Rome for engraving in 1863, which enabled him to study in Italy for several years. Chaplain's work...