The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot

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Denis Diderot

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

Date:: 1773
Culture:: French, Paris
Medium:: Marble
Dimensions:: H. (of bust) 15 3/4 in. (40 cm.); H. (of base) 4 11/16 in. (11.8 cm.)
Classification:: Sculpture
Credit Line:: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 1974
Accession Number:: 1974.291

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 528

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Signature: On edge: "Mr. Diderot, fait en 1773 par houdon"

Inscription: Inscribed on front of plinth below socle: "il eut de grands Amis et, quelques bas jaloux le Soleil plaît à l'aigle, et blesse les hiboux."
Provenance

Count Alexander Sergei Stroganov ; Stroganov Family (until ca. 1918) ; Stroganov Palace Museum / Hermitage (until 1931; sale of Stroganov collection belonging to Soviets, Rudolph Lepke's Auction House, Berlin, May 12, 1931, no. 225); Thomas Fortune Ryan ; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman (until 1974; to MMA)
See also
Who
Jean Antoine Houdon (23)
What
Sculpture (24,383)

Figures (5,016)

Marble (2,130)

Busts (559)
Where
Europe (150,404)

France (49,634)

Paris (2,006)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (67,239)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,182)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
Jean–Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)

The Neoclassical Temple

France, 1600–1800 A.D.
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