David d’Angers was one of the leading French sculptors of the Romantic period, and began making bronze medallions in 1814. He played an important role in the history of nineteenth-century art in general, but his expressive portrait medallions were especially pivotal to renewing the vitality of medallic art: “The great master was the first to revive the medallic art as understood in the fifteenth century, and to give his portraits of bronze expression, reality and life” (Forrer).  His works are marked by very high relief and a vigorous modeling to accentuate the sitters’ characters.

 

David d’Angers began his Galerie des Contemporains (Gallery of Contemporaries) series of portrait medallions in 1827, in which he sought to capture the likenesses and characters of the significant figures of his times, including politicians, novelists, poets, painters, journalists, critics, and academics. On this medal he depicts Maximilien Robespierre (1759-1794), an influential and controversial statesman during the French Revolution. Robespierre was an ardent advocate for equal rights, but his views became radical, leading to the ruthless enforcement of laws that resulted in the Reign of Terror. He fell from favor, and was eventually arrested and executed.

 

David d’Angers won the Grand Prix de Rome in sculpture in 1811.  Scarce.

 

This medal will appeal to collectors interested in the French Revolution.

 

Extremely fine. Nice medium brown patina with some coppery redness. See pictures.

 

Artist: Pierre Jean David d’Angers (1788-1856)

Title: Maximilien Robespierre (1835)

Material: copper

Size: 134 mm

Weight: 72 gr

Inscriptions:

Obverse: Robespierre; signed David/ 1835

Reverse: none—uniface galvano

Edge: plain

Reference: Leonard Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, vol. 1, p. 528

 

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In the coming weeks I will be listing many Art Nouveau and Art Deco medals and plaquettes, from France, Belgium and Austria, which I have collected over the past twenty years. They are by the leading medalists of the period, and many are rare.