Date

1765

Object Type

Statue

Subject

Female figure

Holding institution

Accademia di Carrara

About The Work

There are no inventory or bibliographic records relating to this small work. On the reverse is the incised inscription Ludovicus Jasfè 1765; however, there is no known sculptor by this name. The iconographic type and its attributes—the books and the mask—initially suggested identifying the figure as Melpomene, the muse and patroness of tragic arts. Carozzi notes the presence, in a Carrara workshop, of a similar statuette entitled "Comédie francaise" and attributed to a sculptor named Vassè. Indeed, among the works of the French sculptor Louis Claude Vassè (Paris 1716–1772), winner of the Grand Prix in 1739 and pensionnaire at the Académie de France in Rome from 1740 to 1745, the Louvre preserves a marble statue executed in 1765 and entitled "Comédie" (Thieme-Becker, XXXIV, p. 133). The plaster at the Accademia may be the bozzetto or a reduced copy of this work. In that case, the inscription on the reverse of the plaster should be understood as an incorrect transcription of the true name of the author.

Title

LA MUSA MELPOMENE

Subject

Female figure

Object Type

Statue

Original Function

Didactic furnishing.

Date

1765

Inscriptions

On the back "Ludovicus Jasfe 1765"

Technique / Support

Chalk

Dimensions

cm 60

Holding institution

Accademia di Carrara

Bibliography

RUSSO S., CAROZZI R. (ed), La gipsoteca dell'Accademia di belle arti di Carrara, Massa, 1996

Conservation status

Good

Unique identifier

0900254633