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Diana
Jean-Antoine Houdon1778
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Washington, DC, United States
Details
- Title: Diana
- Creator: Jean-Antoine Houdon
- Date Created: 1778
- Physical Dimensions: overall without base: 63 x 45.1 x 32.2 cm (24 13/16 x 17 3/4 x 12 11/16 in.) overall with base: 81.6 x 45.1 x 32.2 cm (32 1/8 x 17 3/4 x 12 11/16 in.) gross weight: 150 lb. (68.04 kg)
- Provenance: Comte Marcellin de Fresnes, by 1879;[1] by bequest before 1907 to Comtesse Greffulhe [née Princess Elisabeth de Caraman-Chimay, 1860-1952], Paris;[2] (Wildenstein & Co., New York), by November 1955;[3] purchased 18 January 1957 by NGA.[4] [1] The sculpture is mentioned as being in the collection of "M. le comte de Fresne" in Paris by Clement de Ris, "Le musée de l'Ermitage à Saint-Petersbourg," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_, 19, 2nd per. (1879): 186. [2] The countess' life dates and the 1991 reference referred to in this note are from the provenance in the 2003 exhibition catalogue (Anne L. Poulet, _Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment_, Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Musée et domaine national du château de Versailles. Washington, D.C., 2003: 218). Anne de Cossé Brissac, _La comtesse Greffulhe_, Paris, 1991: 131-132, cites the unpublished memoirs of the countess and quotes an undated letter sent to her by the comte de Fresnes: "Je lègue à la comtesse Greffulhe, née Caraman-Chimay, le plus bel objet de Houdon, la première pensée de la Diane. Elle seule est digne de la posséder." See also "La 'Diane' et l' 'Apollon' de Houdon," _Les Arts_, no. 61 (January 1907): 10, 12, and G. Bapst, _Diane Huntress by Jean Antoine Houdon_, Paris, 1915: 10. The bust was offered privately to Andrew W. Mellon in January 1936, but he declined to pursue the offer (see correspondence of 4 and 9 January 1936, in NGA curatorial files). [3] Letter of 1 November 1955, from Wildenstein & Co. to NGA director John Walker, in NGA curatorial files. [4] The sculpture was purchased by NGA with funds given by Syma Busiel.
- Rights: CC0
- Medium: marble
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