Pierre-Jean DAVID D'ANGERS. 1788-1856.

Sculptor and medalist.

Profile portrait of Robespierre crowned with oak.

Sd (circa 1835).

Terracotta, circular relief in the form of a medal.

Dimensions: 22 cm in diameter

Remarkable portrait of Robespierre represented profitably on the left, wearing an oak crown or civic crown, modeled and sculpted by David d'Angers.

This preparatory work on terracotta is the completed sketch that the great sculptor made for the series of bronze medals, dedicated to famous figures in history and art. David d'Angers made three models representing Maximilien de Robespierre and one representing his younger brother. According to Buffenoir who published a study on the portraits of the Tyrant, the one crowned with an oak wreath is the rarest. It recalls an episode of the Revolution at the end of the Constituent Assembly in September 1791; leaving the Assembly in the company of Pétion, Robespierre was acclaimed and carried in triumph by the crowd waiting in the Tuileries gardens. It was amid cries of Long Live the Nation, Long Live Liberty that an oak wreath was placed on his head. Buffenoir also reports that David d'Angers possessed a medallion of Robespierre in grisailles on porcelain, a souvenir which had been given to him by Souberbielle, the tribune's personal physician. This miniature probably inspired the statuary to create our portrait of which we can note this excellent review: The figure of the tribune is superb, honesty, uprightness, and at the same time elegant finesse. It is a masterful portrait.

Related works

- Louvre Museum, Robespierre wearing the civic crown, bronze medallion, cast by Fumière, inventory number RF 1872 and DA 003B; copy without crown, inventory number DA 025 E. In the same series, portrait of young Robespierre, inventory number

- Musée Carnavalet, Portrait of Robespierre, bust in profile, bronze medallion, inv. S1878. In the same series, portrait without crown, bronze medallion, inv. S589

Bibliography

- Hippolyte Buffenoir. The portraits of Robespierre: iconographic and historical study, memories, documents, testimonies. Paris, 1910. Pp.36-37

Provenance

Collection G. de Froidcourt [ n°57 / R ]

Liège magistrate, Georges de Froidcourt (1885-1972) was an important personality in local culture, as a collector and historian, author of numerous historical works on the Principality of Liège in the 18th century. He also devotes a large part of his research to figures from the Revolution: Grétry's general correspondence, The trial of Fabre d'Églantine before the Magistrate of Namur in 1777, Abbé Raynal in the country of Liège, 1781 or Grétry, Rouget de Lisle and Marseillaise. Part of the Froidcourt collection is preserved at the Royal Academy of Belgium.