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Gallery 548 - European Sculpture, 1700–1900

Part of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Gallery Highlights

  • La Crainte des Traits de l'Amour
    La Crainte des Traits de l'Amour

    Jean-Louis Lemoyne (French, 1665–1755)

    Date: 1739–40
    Accession Number: 67.197

  • Perseus with the Head of Medusa
    Perseus with the Head of Medusa

    Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice)

    Date: 1804–6
    Accession Number: 67.110.1

  • Marsyas
    Marsyas

    Balthasar Permoser (German, Kammer, near Otting, Chiemgau, Bavaria 1651–1732 Dresden)

    Date: ca. 1680–85
    Accession Number: 2002.468

  • Winter
    Winter

    Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)

    Date: 1787
    Accession Number: 62.55

  • The Burghers of Calais
    The Burghers of Calais

    Auguste Rodin (French, Paris 1840–1917 Meudon)

    Date: modeled 1884–95, cast 1985
    Accession Number: 1989.407

  • Reclining Naiad
    Reclining Naiad

    Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757–1822 Venice)

    Date: 1819–24
    Accession Number: 1970.1

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The Carroll and Milton Petrie European Sculpture Court features large-scale sculpture presented chronologically from the east end to the west end of the gallery. These mythological, allegorical, and historical works highlight the range of expressive content and visual effects that can be achieved in stone and metal. The material is all-important in sculpture—affecting how light and shadow play across the surface, and furthering the ambition of the design. Carving projecting limbs in stone, for example, requires tremendous skill since the potential for breakage is great. With bronze, sculptors could create a deep, lustrous finish by applying varnishes or chemicals to the surface to form a patina. This coloration also occurs naturally over time as a result of the metal's exposure to air. Several of the works in this gallery were originally displayed in palace gardens, acting as dramatic focal points in carefully arranged natural settings.

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