In 1738, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne (the Younger; his father was also a sculptor) exhibited at the Salon a terracotta bust of Comtesse de Feuquières, daughter of Pierre Mignard. In 1735 the Comtesse had commissioned Lemoyne to execute a monument to her father, which should include his bust by Girardon and a statue of herself mourning his death. Completed in 1744 it was placed in the church of the Jacobins, Rue St Honoré. At the Revolution it was dismembered and partly destroyed, but the Girardon bust was set up later on a bracket in the church of St Roch and much later the bust of the Comtesse was set up alongside the bust of her father.

It has been suggested (Réau, Les Lemoyne, 1927) that this V&A bust was the preparatory sketch for the bust exhibited at the Salon, presumably because of its sketchy appearance, but it might perhaps be the 1738 Salon bust itself. Lemoyne excelled in portrait busts in marble and terracotta and this is a particularly lively example of his work.

Gallery location:
Europe 1600-1815, Room 4, case CA1

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.

Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)

Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London