Abandoned Psyche

Clémence Sophie de Sermézy was one of the first sculptors of the 19th century, but she never sold her art and did not exhibit her sculptures publicly until 1827. This refined Lyonnaise ran a salon where she entertained figures from the world of art and literature, of whom she produced numerous busts. She sculpted them in the neoclassical tradition of sculptor Joseph Chinard, who had been her teacher. This almost life-size terracotta sculpture depicts Psyche, recognizable by her butterfly wings - also known as ‘psychè’ in Greek, symbolizing the soul - and dressed in the fashion of the early 19th century. The young woman is prostrate, desperate for having unwittingly caused the departure of her lover, the god Cupid, by defying the ban on seeing his face. The artist has depicted the suffering contained in Psyche's features with great sensitivity.