The Prince Imperial with his Dog Nero

Designer Based on a composition of 1856 by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French

1912

Not on view

After an unsuccessful effort in 1864 to win a commission for a portrait of Empress Eugénie, Carpeaux proposed to the imperial couple a portrait of their son, Eugène-Louis-Jean-Joseph Napoléon, the Prince Impérial (1856–1879). By August 1865, a lifesize portrait of the nine-year-old prince was complete and the plaster was soon shown publicly at the Salon of 1866. The standing portrait was also executed in marble and cast in silver-patinated bronze, exhibited at the Salons of 1867 and 1868 respectively. Carpeaux chose to portray the prince as a bourgeois lad, shown with the emperor's dog Néro, a gift from the Russian ambassador. In 1869, the Sèvres Manufactory began to produce biscuit porcelain reductions that faithfully reflect the surfaces of marble.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: The Prince Imperial with his Dog Nero
Manufactory: Sèvres Manufactory (French, 1740–present)
Modeler: Henri Robert
Designer: Based on a composition of 1856 by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, Valenciennes 1827–1875 Courbevoie)
Date: 1912
Culture: French, Sèvres
Medium: Hard-paste biscuit porcelain
Dimensions: Height (with pedestal): 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm)
Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1972
Object Number: 1972.79
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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