Detail View: The AMICA Library: Sabine Houdon

AMICA ID: 
MMA_.50.145.66
AMICA Library Year: 
2000
Object Type: 
Sculpture
Creator Name: 
Houdon, Jean-Antoine
Creator Nationality: 
European; French
Creator Role: 
Sculptor
Creator Dates/Places: 
French, 1741-1828
Creator Name-CRT: 
By Jean-Antoine Houdon
Title: 
Portrait Bust
Title Type: 
Object name
Title: 
Sabine Houdon
View: 
Full View
Creation Date: 
18th century (1788)
Creation Start Date: 
1788
Creation End Date: 
1788
Materials and Techniques: 
White marble on gray marble base
Dimensions: 
H. (without base) 10 13/16 in. (27.5 cm)
AMICA Contributor: 
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: 
New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 
50.145.66
Credit Line: 
Bequest of Mary Stillman Harkness, 1950
Rights: 
Context: 

Houdon's canonical portraits of the French philosophes (as well as of America's founding fathers) have contributed to his popularity in America. No less beloved are his depictions of children, of which the most beautiful may be the head of his own daughter Sabine. The delicate naturalistic folds of flesh at the intersection of Sabine's chest and arms are carved with a melting softness that perfectly captures the limpid fragility of infant skin. Her alert, unsentimentaliized features present a personality whose distinction transcends the category of children's portraits.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MMA_.es50.145.66.R.tif