Sleeping Faun Mask – Item #261 Caproni Collection

16 Inches High x 11.5 Inches Wide x 5.75 Inches Deep 

Edmé Bouchardon (1698-1762) was a well-known sculptor and draftsman who notably was the royal sculptor to King Louis XV of France. Prior to his fame, when he was studying at the French Academy in Rome after winning the Prix de Rome, he was tasked with recreating the Ancient Greek sculpture known as the Barberini Faun (and also as the Drunken Satyr) as a gift for the King. This ancient work depicts a faun, or more likely, a satyr, reclining on a rock with his right hand behind his head. As a follower of the god of wine, the faun may be exhausted from the festivities and is trying to relax; parts of his body are relaxed while others are tensed. Following its discovery in Rome, the sculpture was recognized for its eroticism and beauty and was added to the pope’s family collection, from which it takes its name. By the time Bouchardon copied the sculpture, it had undergone several restorations meant to replace missing parts, some of which have since been removed or altered. For instance, Bouchardon’s copy shows the faun with his right leg in a more upright position than the original today. Bouchardon also did not create an exact replica as is evidenced by the softer and more sensual way he sculpted the flesh and the changes he made to other details. His copy received high praise. The mask in our collection is likely derived from Bouchardon’s sculpture. The detail of this piece may be less defined than that of the original sculpture due to a succession of molding and casting. These photos accurately depict the definition of detail for this reproduction. On our cast, we have left intact the seam lines created during the old moldmaking process used in the past.

Artist: Edmé Bouchardon

Museum: Louvre Museum, Paris

Time Period: Modern- Neoclassical, 1726-1730

1911 Catalog ID # – 13460

Sources:

Desmas, Anne-Lise. “Edme Bouchardon’s Sleeping Faun Takes Up Residence in the Getty’s Entrance Hall.” The Iris, 14 December 2016, The J. Paul Getty Museum, https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/edme-bouchardons-sleeping-faun-takes-up-residence-in-the-gettys-entrance-hall/.

Desmas, Anne-Lise, Edouard Kopp, Guilhem Scherf, and Juliette Trey. “14. ‘The Barberini Faun.'” Bouchardon: Royal Artist of the Enlightenment. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2016, pp. 80-81. Google Books, https:///books/edition/Bouchardon/6EFnDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0. 

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Edmé Bouchardon.” Encyclopædia Britannica, https:///biography/Edme-Bouchardon.

“Edme Bouchardon.” The J. Paul Getty Museum, http:///humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/greek-art/hellenistic/v/barberini-faun-c-220-b-c-e.

“Sleeping Faun.” Louvre Museum: Atlas Database, http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=506&langue=en.