Bust of Anne-Marie-Louise Thomas de Domangeville de Sérilly, Comtesse de Pange

Description

Jean-Antoine Houdon was one of the greatest sculptors of the 18th century, and he had a particular talent for portrait busts. Commissioned in 1780, one year after her first marriage, this bust of Louise de Domangeville presents the sitter as somewhat older than her 18 years. Houdon’s handling of the sculpture strikes a balance between the conversational intimacy of Rococo portraiture and the simplified dignity of Neoclassicism. The turn of the sitter’s head and the precisely cut pupils of her eyes focus her gaze, and Houdon conveyed skin, hair, and fabric through nuances of texture and polish. Her drapery frames the bust and imparts the illusion of Classical repose.

Provenance

Commissioned by Anne-Marie-Louise Thomas de Domangeville de Sérilly (1762–1799; later Comtesse de Pange), Paris; confiscated by the Revolutionary Tribunal, Paris, 1794 [this and the following according to research report by Jean Montague Massengale; in curatorial object file]; returned to the Comtesse de Pange, 1796; by descent through the family, Passy-sur-Yonne, France. Nathaniel Mayer von Rothschild (1836–1905), Vienna, by 1899 [Rothschild 1903]; by descent to his nephew, Baron Alphonse Mayer von Rothschild (1878–1942), Vienna, 1905; confiscated by the Nazis, 1938 [the bust was first taken to the Zentral-Depot, Neue Burg, Vienna to be inventoried. This and the following according to AR 1080, Zentral Depot Karteien; copy in curatorial object file]; transferred to Altaussee, Austria, by 1945; recovered by Allied troops, 1945; restituted to Alphonse Mayer von Rothschild’s widow, Clarice de Rothschild (1894–1967; born Sebag-Montefiore), New York, by Dec. 5, 1947. With Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York, 1947. Private collection, United States. Jean Montague Massengale, Norton, CT; by descent to John E. Massengale III and the Jean Montague Massengale Charitable Trust; with Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1996.

Bust of Anne-Marie-Louise Thomas de Domangeville de Sérilly, Comtesse de Pange

Jean Antoine Houdon

1780

Accession Number

144965

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

H.: 89.9 cm (35 1/4 in.)

Classification

sculpture

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Through prior acquisitions of the George F. Harding Collection; the Lacy Armour, Harry and Maribel G. Blum Foundation, Richard T. Crane, Jr. and European Decorative Arts Purchase endowments; Eloise W. Martin and European Decorative Arts Purchase funds; purchased with funds provided by the Woman's Board in honor of Gloria Gottlieb and Mrs. Eric Oldberg; through prior acquisitions of Robert Allerton, Mary and Leigh Block, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Andrew Brown, Miss Janet Falk, J.S. Landon Fund, Brooks and Hope B. McCormick, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Regenstein, Sr., Mrs. Florene Schoenborn, and the Solomon A. Smith Charitable Trust through the Antiquarian Society