Putto met dolfijn
ca. 1750
Medium
modeling
Dimensions
39.6; 48; 48; 102
About this artwork
height 102 cm x width 48 cm x depth 48 cm x weight 39.6 kg
Art Historical Context
Edme Bouchardon's "Putto met dolfijn," created around 1750, captures the playful charm of an 18th-century French sculpture. As a modeled work standing just over a meter tall and weighing nearly 40 kilograms, it likely served as a preparatory study or finished terracotta piece. Bouchardon, a leading sculptor of his time, blended Rococo elegance with emerging Neoclassical restraint, favoring balanced forms drawn from classical antiquity. The subject—a cherubic putto alongside a dolphin—reflects popular decorative motifs of the period, often linked to fountains and garden designs symbolizing vit...
About the Artist
Edme Bouchardon · 1698–1762
Born 29 May 1698; died 27 July 1762. Bouchardon was a student of Guillaume Coustou, and won the prix de Rome in 1722. He spent ten years (1722-1732) in Rome, Italy working on various projects for Pope Clement XII. In 1732 Bouchardon was recalled to Paris and named sculptor to the king. Bouchardon became a professor at the Académie Royale in 1746. He worked on an equestrian monument of Louis XV, Ki...