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Model for a Proposed Monument to Commemorate the Invention of the Balloon

ca. 1784
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 552
The first successful ascension of the hot-air balloon was achieved by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. It lasted only ten minutes but was widely celebrated. By the end of the year, the French crown floated a proposed monument. Clodion was one of seven talented sculptors to compete. His airy Rococo flight of fancy-in which putti pile bundles of hay to launch the balloon, guided by Fame and propelled by Aeolus-is difficult to imagine in marble. Gradually, hot-air ballooning spread to the point of being commonplace, and the project was dropped.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Model for a Proposed Monument to Commemorate the Invention of the Balloon
  • Artist: Clodion (Claude Michel) (French, Nancy 1738–1814 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1784
  • Culture: French, Paris
  • Medium: Terracotta
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 43 1/8 x 24 3/4 x 20 3/8 in. (109.5 x 62.9 x 51.8 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Rogers Fund and Anonymous Gift, 1944
  • Object Number: 44.21a, b
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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