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Portrait Bust

Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleusec. 1865

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

Among the artists who reacted against the static poses of neoclassical art, Carrier-Belleuse drew inspiration from the opulence and excess of Rococo portraiture of the 1700s. This bust resembles one of Napoleon III's mistresses, Marguerite Bellanger, whose features the artist is known to have borrowed for his female busts. Carrier-Belleuse received commissions from Napoleon III, ruler of France from 1852 to 1870, and contributed to the sculptural decorations of the Louvre and Opera Garnier in Paris.

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  • Title: Portrait Bust
  • Creator: Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse (French, 1824–1887)
  • Date Created: c. 1865
  • Physical Dimensions: with base: 77.4 x 38.1 x 28.6 cm (30 1/2 x 15 x 11 1/4 in.)
  • Provenance: possibly descendants of Carrier-Belleuse's daughter Marie-Gabrielle and her husband Joseph Cheret; [Elstir Galerie, Paris]
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.38
  • Medium: terracotta
  • Inscriptions: incised in the clay on the back: "A. Carrier"
  • Fun Fact: The possible muse for this bust, Virginia Oldonia, was a countess know for her drama and costumes.
  • Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
  • Culture: France, 19th century
  • Credit Line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
  • Collection: Mod Euro - Sculpture 1800-1960
  • Accession Number: 1993.38
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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