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Madame de Wailly, née Adélaïde-Flore Belleville (1765–1838)

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Madame de Wailly, née Adélaïde-Flore Belleville (1765–1838)

Augustin Pajou  (French, Paris 1730–1809 Paris)

Date:
1789
Culture:
French, Paris
Medium:
Marble, base of grey marble
Dimensions:
Overall, without base (confirmed): H. 24 5/8 x W. 19 7/8 x D. 10 3/4 in. (62.5 x 50.5 x 27.3 cm); Height with base: 30 1/8 in. (76.5 cm)
Classification:
Sculpture
Credit Line:
Fletcher Fund, 1956
Accession Number:
56.105

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 549

  • Description

    The sitter was the wife of Pajou's lifelong friend Charles de Wailly, a companion from student days in Rome. De Wailly, court architect to Louis XVI, had built neighboring houses for Pajou and himself, and Pajou executed busts of the architect and his wife. After her husband's death, Madame de Wailly married M. de Fourcroy, a medical doctor and chemist.

    The portrait of Madame de Wailly displays the sculptor's gifts to best advantage. The solidity that characterizes his work is enlivened by an equally characteristic linearity, resulting in a brilliant eighteenth-century version of a Roman matron's portrait. The sense of dignity does not suppress the spirit of humor and intelligence that radiates from Madame de Wailly's fully mature countenance. This maturity is echoed in Pajou's handling of her torso, emphasized by the clinging cloth that partly exposes her chest and ample shoulders. The sinuous, weighty curls that frame her face and cascade over her shoulders are insistently sculptural, lending harmony and equilibrium to the work.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Signature: [on tranche, between shoulders]: PAJOU.F.1789

  • Provenance

    presumably Madame de Wailly , the sitter (1789–d. 1838) ; Mme Camille Lelong (until 1903; Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, April 27–May 1, 1903, no. 298; sold to the Princesse de Wagram, Paris); the princesse de Wagram (from 1903) ; David David-Weill , Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris ; Mrs. William Salomon , New York (by 1920–28; sale, American Art Association, New York , January 4–7, 1928, no. 748); J. Horace Harding , New York (until 1941; sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, March 1, 1941, no. 68); Baronne Cassel van Doorn (until 1956, sale, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, May 30, 1956, no. 75; sold to MMA)

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    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
    MetPublications
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