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John Paul Jones

Jean Antoine Houdon French

1781

Not on view

A celebrated naval hero of the American Revolution, Jones traveled with Benjamin Franklin to Versailles in 1780. In this portrait, he wears the cross of the French Order of Military Merit that Louis XVI awarded him. Abigail Adams, wife of American statesman John Adams, described the sitter as small of stature, well proportioned, polite, enterprising, and ambitious, qualities Houdon skillfully expressed here. Jones ordered multiple plaster casts of the bust for friends.

John Paul Jones, Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris), Marble — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: John Paul Jones

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

Date: 1781

Medium: Marble

Dimensions: 22 1/2 × 21 × 12 in., 400 lb. (57.2 × 53.3 × 30.5 cm, 181.4 kg)
With base: 27 9/16 × 21 × 12 in. (70 × 53.3 × 30.5 cm)

Classification: Sculpture

Credit Line: United States Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis (1958.6)

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European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Met

The Met's comprehensive collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century.