Details

Title

Study for "A Sleeping Shepherd"

Artist/Maker

Louis-Claude Vassé (French, 1716–1772)

Date

ca. 1745

Medium

Terracotta

Dimensions

12 5/8 x 7 7/8 x 6 11/16 inches

Credit

Purchase with funds from Irene and Howard Stein

Accession #

2000.210

On View

On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 2, Gallery 208

This terra-cotta is believed to be a sketch for a marble in the Louvre titled A Sleeping Shepherd. Although the arm positions differ and a staff has been added in the marble version, there are strong correspondences in the figure’s sensual, relaxed pose and unusual backward tilt of his head. In line with academic training at the time, sculptors commonly created terra-cotta sketches such as this directly from nude models, which resulted in a freshness and immediacy that often were lost during the translation into marble.