Calliope

c. 1763

Augustin Pajou

Artist, French, 1730 - 1809

A woman carved from cream-white marble stands holding an open book to which she points in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, her body faces us but her head turns to our right. She has a long nose, small mouth, and rounded chin. Her wavy, upswept hair is topped by a semi-circular headdress. Her voluminous gown clings to her torso, leaving one breast exposed. The fabric falls in deep folds around her legs and sandalled feet. Her left shoulder, on our right, is bare. A band crosses her chest from that shoulder to her waist. She holds the tall book in her right hand, on our left, braced against that hip. Her other hand points to the words inscribed in Latin on its pages. It reads, “CALLIOPE REGI NA,HOMINVM, DIVVMQVE VO LVPTAS CARMINIS HE ROI NVMERIS FVLGENTIA SIGNIS AGMINA, BEL LANTVMQVE ANIMOS, ET P RAELIA CAN TO, INCLYTAQVE AETERNAE COMMI TO. NOMINA FAMAE.” She stands on a square base supported on a fawn-brown, veined marble plinth. The background behind her is nickel gray.

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On View

West Building Main Floor, East Sculpture Hall

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 158 x 60.8 x 46.1 cm (62 3/16 x 23 15/16 x 18 1/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1952.5.107

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Amable Charles (Franquet), 1st Comte de Francqueville, O.L.H. [b. 1840], Paris.[1] (Wildenstein & Co., New York); sold June 1949 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[2] gift 1952 to NGA.
[1] Provenance according to Ulrich Middeldorf, Complete Catalogue of the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Sculptures XIV-XIX Century, London, 1976: 109.
[2] The Wildenstein invoice to the Kress Foundation for 16 items, including this sculpture, is dated 23 June 1949 (copy in NGA curatorial files). The previous collection is given as "Chateau de la Muette, près Paris."

Associated Names

Bibliography

1951

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1945-1951. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1951: 256, no. 115, repro., as The Muse Calliope.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 450, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 164.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 144, repro.

1976

  • Middeldorf, Ulrich. Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century. London, 1976: 109.

1992

  • De Caso, Jacques. "La sculpture en crise: aspects d'une révision." In Daniel Rabreau and Bruno Tollon, eds. Le Progrès des Arts Réunis, 1763-1815: Mythe culturel, des origines de la révolution à la fin de l'empire?. Actes du Colloque International d'Histoire de l'Art, Bordeaux - Toulouse, 22-26 May 1989. Bordeaux and Toulouse, 1992: 315, 316 n. 9, fig. 67.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 172, repro.

1997

  • Draper, James David, and Guilhem Scherf. Augustin Pajou: Royal Sculptor, 1730-1809. Exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. New York, 1997: 127-128.

1999

  • Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.

2005

  • Baillio, Joseph, et al. The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005: 65, fig. 90, 75 (not in the exhibition).

Inscriptions

on book: CALLIOPE REGI / NA,HOMINVM, / DIVVMQVE VO/ LVPTAS / CARMINIS HE / ROI NVMERIS / FVLGENTIA / SIGNIS / AGMINA,BEL / LANTVMQVE / ANIMOS,ET / P RAELIA CAN / TO, / INCLYTAQVE / AETERNAE COMMI / TO. NOMINA / FAMAE

Wikidata ID

Q63809302

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