Description
The Marquis Gallyot de Tourney commissioned this sculpture to serve as his funeral monument. It depicts a young woman gesturing with one hand toward an urn bearing the inscription Voilà ce coeur qui nous a tant aimé (Here is the heart that loved us so). The marquis specified that the figure should be a rosière, a virtuous woman of humble circumstances, a choice likely informed by the writings of Enlightenment philosophers, especially Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who championed greater social equality and democratic reform.
Provenance
Commissioned by the Marquis Gallyot de Tourny (La Falaise, France), 1787-93.; M. de Salvert, sale, Galerie Georges Petit, May 6-7, 1887, lot 31.; Alain Moatti (Paris, France), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2002.
Funerary Monument for the Marquis de Tourney (for the Chapel of the Château de la Falaise)
1787–1793
Accession Number
2002.53
Medium
marble
Dimensions
Overall: 170 x 85.4 x 49.5 cm (66 15/16 x 33 5/8 x 19 1/2 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Credit Line
The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund