Details

Title

Self-Portrait

Artist/Maker

Joseph Chinard (French, 1756–1813)

Date

ca. 1808

Medium

Partially molded and re-worked terracotta relief

Dimensions

7 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 2 inches

Credit

Purchase with Collections Council Acquisition Fund

Accession #

1998.54

Location

Currently not on view

Joseph Chinard was one of the best and most influential sculptors working in France from the mid-1780s to the time of his death in 1813. This self-portrait demonstrates Chinard’s mastery of the medallion format, which set the stage for succeeding generations of French medalists, including David d’Angers. Chinard’s medallion is finely modeled with an economy of sculpted lines; the tousled curls of the sitter and the sensitive depiction of his features are elements associated with the later Romantic portraits of David d’Angers and Ingres. This extremely rare terracotta relief is the only self-portrait relief known to have been made by Chinard.