Terracotta busts from the Napoleonic era (Display Cabinet A)

Napoleonic-era sculptors
18th - 19th century, Terracotta

In Display Cabinet A there are several small terracotta busts expressing the new taste typical of the post-revolutionary aesthetics, which is reflected in the elegance of the official robes, the balanced rendering of details and faces with proud looks. From the left in the front row is the Portrait of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais (1), Viceroy of Italy and first-born son of Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, by the frenchman Joseph Chinard, noted for his talent by Napoleon, who wanted him as his official portrait painter; the Bust of a Young Woman (2) with delicate features by an anonymous french sculptor, dating from around 1800 and in typically neo-classical taste. In the centre is a Bust of a Gentleman with Cadogan's Hairdo (3), modelled by the sculptor A. Riffard in August 1795 and styled according to a hairstyle with a parting in the middle and a ribbon holding the hair at the nape of the neck, called "Cadogan's style" in honour of its inventor, the english General Cadogan; this is followed by a Bust of a Gentleman (4) elegantly dressed by an anonymous german sculptor active in the 18th century and the Portrait of Felice Baciocchi, Prince of Lucca and Piombino (5). The work is signed by Joseph Chinard and is part of the portraits that the French sculptor executed for Napoleon. These works, in terracotta and marble, were replicated several times by the author himself to support the policy of disseminating images of the Bonaparte family promoted by Elisa, Napoleon's sister and wife of the effigy. In the second row are the bust of Mademoiselle Jeannette Nini (6), in exquisite Rococo style, dated 1762 and signed by the artist Giovan Battista Nini from Urbino and the Portrait of Roland de la Platière (7). There are two busts in this collection executed by the french sculptor François-Joseph Martin, and of the two this is certainly the most striking. It bears the Portrait bust of Roland de la Platière, who was Inspector General of the Lyon manufactories and during the French Revolution held the post of Minister of the Interior. The portrait corresponds to the effigy according to the criterion of strict realism chosen by the sculptor, who has respected the character not only in his physiognomic features, but also in the rendering of his personality, remembered by his contemporaries as that of austere morality of a man endowed with sound philosophy.

1. Portrait of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy, Duke of Leuchtemberg - Chinard, Joseph
2. Bust of young woman - French sculptor
3. Bust of a gentleman with Cadogan hairdo - Riffard, Albert
4. Bust of a gentleman - German sculptor
5. Portrait of Felice Baciocchi, Prince of Lucca and Piombino - Chinard, Joseph
6. Mademoiselle Jeannette Nini- Nini, Giovanni Battista
7. Portrait bust of Roland de la Platière, Martin, François-Joseph, known as Martin of Grenoble