The Metamorphosis of Pygmalion: Falconet, Diderot and the Académie

Paris c. 1750

prof. dr. C.A. van EckConstance Moets0955094cfmoet@gmail.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

One The Myth of Pygmalion by Ovid: popularity in the eighteenth century Animation according to Condillac Animation according to Rousseau

Two Falconet and marble: from stone to life Réflexions sur la sculpture (1760) Pygmalion

Three Diderot and the Salons: from stone to words to life (New) role of the public + the Salons Pygmalion

Four Mercure de France

Conclusion

Bibliography

Images

Appendix 1 Ovid, Metamorphoses,10. 238-97

Appendix II Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Pygmalion. Scène lyrique 1762

Appendix III Denis Diderot, Salon de 1763

Appendix IV Mercure de France, November 1763, p. 208-210

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Introduction In the eighteenth century the myth Pygmalion as told by Ovid in Metamorphoses regains particular interest.1 Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791) would be the first to try to depict this myth in sculpture.2 His Groupe de marbre, représentant Pygmalion aux pieds de sa statue, à l’instant où elle s’anime3 was exhibited at the 1763 Salon. 4 It was one of the first and only sculptures Denis Diderot (1713-1784 ) wrote an extensive commentary to. 5 His writings however, were not published and therefore not subjected to censorship. This was opposed to writings in sources such as the Mercure de France (hereafter: Mercure). Published sources such as these would not dare to print art criticism that was too scrutinous, because they feared to enrage l’Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (hereafter: Académie). The texts in the Mercure can therefore be considered as being in accordance with-or at least not contradictory to- the ideas of the Académie.6

In this paper I will compare the ideas of several significant figures and the Académie in eighteenth century France. I will focus on the analysis and visualization of (the suggestion of) the moment of animation of the statue, so the transformation from lifeless to live matter. In particular I will use the views and expressions of eighteenth century thinkers Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714-1780) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), of Falconet and Diderot and the Mercure. I will firstly discuss reasons for the renewed popularity in eighteenth century France of the myth of Pygmalion. Then I will examine Falconet’s statue. I will discuss Falconet’s Réflexions sur la sculpture (1768) and recent literature. I will then examine Diderot’s writings about the statue. In a final chapter I will examine the reception of Falconet’s Pygmalion by the Académie through the related text in le Mercure. Where possible, concerning primary sources, I will use the techniques of ‘close reading’, because it enables a structured approach of the text. Finally, I will make some concluding remarks. Unless otherwise stated, all translations in the footnotes are by the author.

One The Myth of Pygmalion: popularity in the eighteenth centuryThe myth of Pygmalion is about a sculptor named Pygmalion who fell in love with the ivory statue he made. He lives with it and touches it all the time. He prays to Venus and when he comes back to the statue, he kisses her and to his surprise he discovers she has come to life. To be clear, the myth leaves no doubt as to whom brings the statue to life: it is Venus, not Pygmalion. He is not sculpting her at the moment she comes to life.7

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1 For a short outline of its popularity throughout the centuries, consult J.L. Carr, “Pygmalion and the Philosophes”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute 1960, pp. 239-55: 240 ff.

2 Mercure de France, November 1763; V.I.Stoichita, The Pygmalion Effect. From Ovid to Hitchcock, Chicago/London 2008, p.112.

3 Marble group representing Pygmalion at the feet of his statue, at the moment she comes to life.

4 This paper is about the Pygmalion version of the Louvre, which is very possibly the one that Diderot writes about; J-R. Gaborit, Diderot et l’art de Boucher à David: les Salons, 1759-1781, Paris 1984 (exh.cat. Hôtel de la Monnaie, Paris), p. 452.

5 The Salons written by Diderot are especially known for the writings about painting. However, he also wrote important texts about sculpture eventhough he did not consider himself to be a connaisseur in sculpture. According to the catalogue of the exhibition organized in 1984, 200 years after his death, his writings about sculpture are very much in accordance with what we regard as ‘good’ sculpture nowadays. So Diderot indeed knew about sculpture and his writings about sculpture are still relevant to us. From the Salon of 1763 on Diderot became more at ease with writing about sculpture. He played an important part in the career of the sculptor Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716-1791). For example, partly due to Diderot’s Salons Falconet obtained the commission for an equestrian statue of Peter the Great, from Catherine II. Vice versa Diderot learnt a lot from his friend Falconet. Falconet himself was also a special figure in the eighteenth century; he was partially self-taught, one of the few sculptors of that age who aknowledged the influence of the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1660) on his work and he was one of the very few sculptors that actually published his ideas about sculpture; M. Hilaire, S. Wuhrmann & O. Zeder (ed.), Le Goût de Diderot : Greuze, Chardin, Falconet, David... Paris 2013 (exh.cat. Musée Fabre Montpellier), p. 131.

6 <http://www.univ-montp3.fr/pictura/Diderot/SalonsIntroduction.php>, last consulted 9 May 2014.

7 See Appendix I.

Image 1 Jean Raoux, Pygmalion amoureux de sa statue (1717), oil on canvas, 0,134 x 0,100 m., Musée Fabre, Montpellier.

In the eighteenth century the myth regains popularity. Stoichita even calls it a “Pygmalion-mania”.8 The central theme remains the animation of matter, but eighteenth century figures whether they are philosophers, playwrights or artists, adapt it to their own needs.9 From a philosophical point of view this renewed interest is not surprising, because it concerns questions such as ‘what is life?’ and ‘what are body and mind?’. Also, it contains an artistic challenge: ‘In what way can life or animation be suggested in art?’, ‘Is this even possible and if so, in all forms of art?’. The suggestion of life has always been an important topic in western art, but in the eighteenth century for the first time it is connected to perception, sensation and the question of l’homme machine, what makes man a man? All of which the myth of Pygmalion is a concretisation. On the other hand this renewed popularity is remarkable in light of Enlightenment, because people then were more inclined to destroy myths than to cultivate them. Stoichita points out there is quite a paradoxal reason for this. The myth was useful to make people somewhat question the divine nature of the creation of man; if an artist could animate sculpture, then God would not be the only one capable of creating life.10

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8 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p.111-112.

9 Compare to: Carr op. cit. (s.n. 1) p. 239.

10 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p.111-112; See also: G. Levetine, The Sculpture of Falconet, Greenwich, Connecticut 1972, p. 34.

Frédéric Cousinié gives another explanation for the popularity of the myth of Pygmalion relating to sculpture. He believes it was the embodiment of two fantasies in sculpture: the first is the one mentioned earlier, namely fascination with the suggestion of life in art or as he puts it “fulfilment of absolute mimesis in which the statue truly becomes ‘creature’, flesh truly ‘flesh’ ”. The second fantasy would be the accomplishment of the secret desire of a physical possession of a statue which was given life.11 Touch by Pygmalion is of special importance in the original myth. It is through touch that Pygmalion discovers the statue is alive.12 In the eighteenth century however, the emphasis regarding the discovery of transformation from lifeless to alive would shift from the touch by Pygmalion to the first ‘step’ by the statue as a symbol of life.13 This is already the case with the first important adaptation Pygmalion ou la statue animée (1741) by André François Boureau-Deslandes (1689-1757) in which the role of the sculptor is diminuated; the female figure becomes immobile when she is startled by the outcries of the sculptor. She becomes really mobile in secret during the night.14 Unfortunately within the context of this research, it is not possible to also refer extensively to the importance of the myth in painting in the eighteenth century starting with Jean Raoux (1677-1734) with his painting Pygmalion amoureux de sa statue (1717) except to note that the realization of different types of flesh in sculpture was a difficulty that in painting, from Raoux on, was surmounted with the help of colour (see Image 1).15 As Zeder stated, this painting was probably the first art object in eighteenth century France with this subject. Raoux really showed differences in tonality for limbs that are still lifeless and others already alive. According to Zeder, this myth evoques the mystery of the artistic creation; art not only imitates nature, but even surpasses it.16 As we will see, Falconet moves the emphasis back to the role of the divine, through Cupid. Diderot focuses on a change in composition to let the sculptor have center stage so to speak.

Animation according to CondillacA prominent example in philosophy of the importance of the myth Pygmalion is Condillac’s Traité des Sensations (1754) in which Condillac performs a thought experiment, to examine the workings of the human body using a statue, from the inside organized like a man and brought to life with a mind without any idea. Condillac could control its whole education. The reason for this would be the assumption that the marble exterior of the statue would not allow any sensations to reach the statue, except when and what he would want:17

“Pour remplir cet objet, nous imaginâmes une statue organisée intérieurement comme nous, et animée d’un esprit privé de toute espèce d’idées. Nous supposâmes encore que l’extérieur tout de marbre ne lui permettait l’usage

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11 Lots of contemporary writers considered certain sexual acts performed with these kinds of statues a perversion, including Falconet; F. Cousinié, ‘De la morbidezza du Bernin au “sentiment de la chair” dans la sculpture française’ in: Grell, C. (ed.), Le Bernin et l’Europe: du baroque triomphant à l’âge romantique, Paris 2002, p. 298-299.

12 See Appendix I p. 2.

13 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p.115.

14 Ibidem, p. 114-115.

15 Ibidem, p. 132-133.

16 http://museefabre.montpellier-agglo.com/pdf.php/?filePath=var/storage/original/application/7d40bd11a3eeeee03975d84abc791ce2.pdf , last consulted 9 May 2014. Unfortunately I could not find the actual catologue in any Dutch library.

17 Comp. N. Mirzoeff, Bodyscape. Art, modernity and the ideal figure, London 2002, p.61.

d’aucun de ses sens, et nous nous réservâmes la liberté de les ouvrir à notre choix aux différentes impressions dont ils sont susceptibles.”18

Thus, Condillac made operational one sense at a time and gave stimuli of increasing complexity. As such, as Leonard puts it, the philosopher by animating “a perfect statue in an artful universe” is a Pygmalion himself in the sense that he could “artificially create an ideal human subject, whose perceptions could be trained from the start to avoid the errors that commonly affect our use of the senses and ways of reasoning.” Eventually the statue would come to complete self-realization.19 Condillac sought to become knowledgeable of the role of the senses in establishing human knowledge and self-awareness.20 For this thought experiment the reader should imagine himself to be one with the statue, while at the same time keeping its own understanding, the Self, ‘Moi’. His presupposition was opposed to Descartes’ who believed in dualism of body and mind, that body and mind were different from each other in substance and space.21 Condillac attempted to reduce the concept of understanding and human nature to a universal principle that ideas and sentiments are nothing more than sensations transformed and combined in different ways.22

In his experiment the statue gradually becoming aware of itself, starts to say ‘moi’, me, from the moment it has more than one experience. For example when it has smelled two things. By smelling a second flower for example, it becomes able to compare that smell with the former. Thus the ‘moi’ has changed. So the ‘moi’, the self, according to Condillac presupposes memory.23 The sense of touch plays a special role in this process of self-awareness.24 As Sheriff puts it, Condillac believes touch teaches the other senses to judge external objects. Without touch, the statue would think that all sensations are modifications of itself.25 It is touch that objectifies the other senses. And it is touch that make us conscious of ourselves of ‘moi’ by touching ourselves.26 It enables us to distinguish between external objects and ourselves, which in turn makes it the most important sense. It enables us to attribute the experiences we had through all the other senses, to external objects.27 Thus in the experiment the statue starts to become conscious of itself through the sense of touch. Condillac interestingly thus makes life a model rather than make the model come alive.28

To put it simply, to Condillac the statue -and man- is a machine for cognition.29 Condillac for his thought experiment only uses the basis of the myth of Pygmalion, which is the notion of

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18 http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/condillac_etienne_bonnot_de/traite_des_sensations/traite_des_sensations.html , last consulted 9 May 2014.

19 D. Leonard, ‘Condillac's Animated Statue and the Art of Philosophizing: Aesthetic Experience in the Traité des sensations’, The Dalhousie Review 2002, pp. 491-513, 512-513 consulted at http://ojs.library.dal.ca/dalhousiereview/article/view/dr823leonard 10 May 2014; also: J.A. Perkins, The Concept of the Self in the French Enlightenment, Paris 1969, p. 52.

20 http://www.ac-grenoble.fr/PhiloSophie/logphil/auteurs/condilla.htm, last consulted 9 May 2014.

21 Mirzoeff , op.cit. (s.n. 17), p. 61.

22 Leonard, op.cit. (s.n. 19), p. 492.

23 B. Baertschi, ‘La statue de Condillac, image du réel ou fiction logique?’, Revue Philosophique de Louvain (82)1984-55, pp. 335-364; 339.

24 See also: Perkins op.cit. (s.n. 19), p. 54.

25 M.D. Sheriff, Moved by Love: Inspired Artists and Deviant Women in Eighteenth-Century France, Chicago 2008, p. 182.

26 Ibidem, p. 182; Baertschi, op. cit (s.n. 24), p. 342; Note: Condillac is not always consistent in his argumentation. However, there is no possibilty to get into that here.

27 M. Paterson, The Senses of Touch:Haptics, Affects and Technologies, Oxford: 2007, chapter 3; Perkins op.cit. (s.n. 19), p. 54.

28 P.A. Emison, Creating the “Divine” Artist: From Dante to Michelangelo, Leiden: 2004, p. 110.

29 C. McDonald, The Dialogue of Writing: Essays in Eighteenth-Century French Literature, Waterloo (Canada)1984, p. 47.

animation of lifeless matter.30 The statue comes to life without any divine intervention. For Condillac human life starts at the moment there has been more than one sensation, thus creating memory and knowledge through comparison. For there to be life, self-awareness is essential. Touch enables us to be aware of and to make comparisons between the internal and external. Touch thus plays an instrumental role in human life. To register the experiences of the different senses, memory is indispensable. Life is knowledge, established with the aid of the senses and memory. In all this, body and mind are interconnected.

Animation according to RousseauRousseau's Pygmalion. Scène lyrique (1762) seems to be the first piece where Pygmalion brings his perfect image to life without actual divine help. According to Stoichita special importance is given to the base of the statue. The whole play is centered around the base.31 From Rousseau on, the female statue becomes known as Galathée. Galatea in Greek mythology is a sea nymph. Possibly, according to Carr, Rousseau used this name to give her a flirtatious connotation.32 In Rousseau’s piece, while working on his statue, Pygmalion states he has never seen anything more beautiful. He believes he has surpassed the Gods.33 Galathée comes to life at the last stroke of his chisel. So it is when he attempts to modify the statue to his ideal and when he actually succeeds, that he suddenly feels movement in the statue. At this point Rousseau focusses on Pygmalion rather than on the statue regarding the animation. Stoichita points out that artistic creation and religious adoration are entwined. The role of the divine is not to bring the statue to life, but to inspire the artist to perform the transformation himself. Thus Rousseau has Pygmalion exclaim:

“Dieux! je sens la chair palpitante repousser le ciseau !....”34

Then Pygmalion states the only thing that is missing, is a soul.35 And, so he states, it is not dead marble with which he fell in love, but that she resembles a living person. He contemplates what it would be like to give his own soul for her to come alive, to die and live within Galathée. But then he would not be able to see and love her. So he concludes that he prefers she would come alive.36 He is startled when he in fact sees her coming alive: he sees the colouring of her

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30 Marginal comment: Sensation is not uniform in all men; men vary widely in the degree of vividness or intensity in which they sense and feel. Moreover, man is nothing but what he has experienced; there are no innate ideas nor are there innate abilites; http://www.egs.edu/library/etienne-bonnot-de-condillac/biography/ , last consulted 9 May 2014.

31 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p.118 and 123.

32 Carr op.cit. (s.n. 1), p. 240 footnote 9.

33 “Vanité, foiblesse humaine: je ne puis me lasser d’admirer mon ouvrage; je m’enivre d’amour-propre; je m’adore dans ce que j’ai fait....Non, jamais rien de si beau ne parut dans la nature; j’ai passe l’ouvrage des Dieux....”

34 “Gods! I feel pulsing flesh against the chisel!”,http://www.rousseauonline.ch/pdf/rousseauonline-0056.pdf, last consulted 9 May 2014. Also: Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p.121.

35 “Mais il te manque une âme: ta figure ne peut s’en passer. Avec plus d’attendrissement encore. Que l’âme faite pour animer un tel corps doit être belle!”; Ibidem.

36 “Ce n’est point de ce marbre mort que je suis épris, c’est d’un être vivant qui lui ressemble (...)Quels traits de feu semblent sortir de cet objet pour embraser mes sens, & retourner avec mon ame à leur source! Hélas! il reste immobile & froid, tandis que mon cœur embrase par ses charmes, voudroit quitter mon corps pour aller échauffer le sien. Je crois dans mon délire pouvoir m’élancer hors de moi; je crois pouvoir lui donner ma vie & l’animer de mon ame. Ah que Pygmalion meure pour vivre dans Galathée!....Que dis-je, o Ciel! Si j’etois elle je ne la verrois pas, je ne serois pas celui qui l’aime! Non, que ma Galathée vive, & que je ne sois pas elle. Ah! que je sois toujours un autre, pour vouloir toujours être elle, pour la voir, pour l’aimer, pour en être aimé....”,Ibidem.

flesh (plural), fire in her eyes and even movement.37 She then touches herself and says “me”, then touches another piece of marble and says “not me” and finally Pygmalion and says “Me again”. 38 It could be she identifies with him as her maker, as her mirror image,39 or in fact that she sees him as another living being and distinguishes between that and lifeless matter, or both. The play ends with Pygmalion stating that he has given his all, that from that moment on he will only live through Galathée.40 Apart from the apparent romantic meaning of this statement, it can also be understood as an artist living forever through his work.

Two Falconet and marble: from stone to lifeParts of the Réflexions sur la sculpture (1760) relevant to this topic are discussed here.41 Since Falconet has written this piece in the period he also made Pygmalion, it should be able to give us an idea of his thoughts on sculpture at that time. Levetine remarks that no other contemporary ever gave a more complete and passionate document of the ‘artist’s point of view’. Lifelikeness for Falconet entails not only a cold likeness, but also the living, passionate essence of nature.42 The nude is the principal object of the sculptor’s study. 43 According to Falconet and he specifically names the Académie, one should study nature and use good Greek statues as a guide, because they contain the essence of nature:

“étude font la connoissance des os, de l'anatomie extérieure & l'imitation assidue de toutes les parties & de tous les mouvemens du corps humain. L'École de Paris & celle de Rome exigent cet exercice , & facilitent aux Élèves cette connoissance nécessaire. Mais comme le naturel peut avoir ses défauts, que le jeune Élève, à force de les voir & de les copier, doit naturellement les transmettre dans ses ouvrages, il lui faut un guide sur, pour lui faire connoître les justes

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37 “Il la voit s’animer, & se détourne saisi d’effroi ici le cœur serré de douleur. Qu’ai-je vu? Dieux! qu’ai-je cru voir? Le coloris des chairs, un feu dans les yeux, des mouvemens même.... ce n’etoit pas assez d’espérer le prodige; pour comble de misère, enfin, je ai vu....” , Ibidem.

38 “GALATHÉE se touche & dit.Moi.PYGMALION transporte.Moi!GALATHÉE se touchant encore.C’est moi.PYGMALION.Ravissante illusion qui passes jusqu’à mes oreilles, ah.! n’abandonne jamais mes sens..GALATHÉE, fait quelques pas & touche un marbre.Ce n’est plus moi.Pygmalion dans une agitation, dans des transports qu’il a peine à contenir, suit tous ses mouvements, l’écoute, l’observe avec une avide attention qui lui permet à peine de respirer.Galathée, s’avance vers lui & le regarde; il se lève précipitamment, lui tend les bras, & la regarde avec extase. Elle pose une main sur lui; il tressaillit, prend cette main, la porte à son cœur, puis la couvre d’ardens baisers.GALATHÉE avec un soupir.Ah! encore moi.PYGMALION.Oui, cher & charmant objet; oui, digne chef-d’oeuvre de mes mains, de mon cœur & des Dieux: c’est toi, c’est toi seule: je t’ai donne tout mon être; je ne vivrai plus que par toi.”, Ibidem.

39 J-J Rousseau, Pygmalion. Scène lyrique in Collection complète des oeuvres, Genève, 1780-1789, vol. 8, in-4°; Ibidem..

40 “Oui, cher & charmant objet; oui, digne chef-d’oeuvre de mes mains, de mon cœur & des Dieux: c’est toi, c’est toi seule: je t’ai donne tout mon être; je ne vivrai plus que par toi.”; Ibidem.

41 I included the translation in English. This is the translation by Levetine based upon the 1787 edition of his Oeuvres (Paris: Didot et Jombert, v 3, p 1-46) in: Levetine op.cit. (s.n. 10), p. 63 ...

42 “By aiming at the imitation of the aspect of the human body, sculpture should not limit itself to depict a cold likeness or to represent man such as he would have appeared before the vivifying breath which gave him life. This type of truth, even if it were well reproduced would excite by its exactness only a praise as cold as its likeness, and the soul of the onlooker would not be moved. It is the living, animated passionate nature which the sculptor must express in marble, bronze, stone etc.” ; Ibidem, p. 65.

43 See: T. Macsotay, The human figure as method. Study, Sculpture and Sculptors in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture (1725-1765), Enkhuizen 2008 (diss. UvA), p. 525 a.o.

proportions &: les belles formes. Les statues Grecques font le guide le plus sur ; elles font & feront toujours la règle de la précision , de la grace & de la noblesse, comme étant la plus parfaite représentation du corps humain. Si l'on s'en tient à un examen superficiel, ces statues ne paroîtront pas extraordinaires, ni même difficiles à imiter; mais l'Artiste intelligent & attentif découvrira dans quelques-unes les plus profondes connoisances du deissin &, s'il est permis d'employer ici ce mot, toute l'énergie du naturel. Aussi les Sculpteurs qui ont le plus étudié & avec choix les figures antiques, ont-ils été les plus distingués. 44

So he sees the merits of the basics taught at the Académie. Greek statues are the best guides, but it requires an intelligent and attentive artist to discover true knowledge. However, he does not believe all classical statues deserve equal amount of study. The reason is they are human productions and thus susceptible to human defaults.45

Also important to Falconet, is for artists to make up their own minds, using nature as a guide. An artist should not be a slave to styles or fashion, but instead trust his own good taste:

“C'est aux grands Artistes, à qui toute la nature est ouverte, à donner les loix du goût. Ils n'en doivent recevoir aucune des caprices & des bizarreries de la mode.” 46

Some recurring themes in his text are ideal beauty, antiquity, nature and the genius of the sculptor. They are all summarized in one citation:

“Nous avons vu que c'est l'imitation des objets naturels, soumis aux principes des Anciens, qui constitue les vraies beautés de la Sculpture. Mais l'étude la Plus profonde des figures antiques, la connoissance la plus parfaite des muscles, la précision du trait, l'art même de rendre les passages harmonieux de la peau & d'exprimer les ressorts du corps humain; ce savoir, dis-je, n'est que pour les yeux des Artistes & pour ceux d'un très-petit nombre de Connoisseurs. Mais comme la Sculpture ne se fait pas seulement pour ceux qui l'exercent, ou qui y ont des connoissances, il faut que le Sculpteur, pour mériter tous les suffrages, joigne aux études qui lui font nécessaires un talent supérieur encore. Ce talent si essentiel & si rare, quoiqu'il semble être à la portée de tous les Artistes , c'est le SEN TI M E N T. Il doit être inséparable de toutes leurs productions. C'est lui qui les vivifie ; si les autres études en font la base, le sentiment en est l'âme. Les connoissances acquises ne sont que particulières; mais le sentiment est à tous les hommes; il est universel. À cet égard, tous les hommes sont juges de nos ouvrages.”47

Certainly only artists and some connaisseurs have that special eye needed in art. The basis of art is study, but sentiment, feeling is its soul. Sentiment moreover is universal, this enables all of mankind to judge and appreciate art.

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44 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6496752n/f10.image.print.r=falconet%20reflexions%20sculpture.langEN , last consulted 9 May 2014; “The foundations of his study are the knowledge of bone structure, of external anatomy, and the assiduous imitation of all the parts and of all the movements of the human body. The school of Paris and that of Rome require this exercise and help the students to acquire the necessary knowledge. But since nature can have its imperfections (...) it is necessary for him to have a dependable guide to make him learn the correct proportions and beautiful forms. Greek statues are the most dependable guides. They are and always will be the rule of precision, gracefulness, and nobility, since they are the most perfect representation of the human body. If one is to be content with a superficial examination, these statues will not seem extraordinary nor even difficult to imitate; but the understanding and attentive artist will discover in some of them the most profound knowledge of drawing and all the energy of nature. Thus, it (sic) is the sculptors who have studied the antique figures the most and with the greatest selectivity who have distinguished themselves the most.”; Levetine op.cit. (s.n. 10), p.69.

45 “Quelque belles que soient les statues antiques, elles font des productions humaines , par conséquent susceptibles des faiblesses de l'Humanité (...).” “However beautiful the antique statues are, they are human productions and consequently susceptible of having the weaknesses of humanity.”; Ibidem, p.69.

46 “It is up to the great artists, to whom all nature is open, to formulate the laws of good taste...: they must not receive any law of from the caprices and bizarreness of fashion.”; Ibidem, p.70.

47 “ We have seen that it is in the imitation of natural objects submitted to the principles of the ancients that constitutes the true beauty of sculpture. But the most profound study of the figures of antiquity, the most perfect knowledge of muscles, the precision of the line, the very art of rendering the harmonious areas of the skin and of expressing the structure of the human body, this knowledge, I say, is only made for the eyes of the artists and for those of a very small number of connoisseurs. But since sculpture does not exist only for those who practice it or for those who are knowledgeable about it, the sculptor must, in order to deserve unanimous praise, add to the studies which are necessary for him an even greater talent. This talent, so essential and so rare, although it seems to be available to all artists, is feeling. |it must be present in all their productions. It is feeling which gives them life: if the other studies are the basis for these productions, feeling alone is their soul. Acquired knowledge is an individual matter, but feeling belongs to all men. It is universal: in this respect all men are the judges of our works.”; Ibidem, p.70.

Careful and selective study must be combined with feeling. Falconet then notes that modern artists are often better at the expression of flesh, or more specifically skin folds, softness of flesh and circulation of blood, than those in antiquity.48

How to position Falconet in the history of sculpture treatises? To do so, it is necessary to make some comparative remarks regarding Leon Battista Alberti’s (1404-1472) De Statua (1464). Hermans notes that Alberti did not intend to write a manual for the artist, but wished to explain two measuring techniques. He also gives a table with the ideal proportions of the male figure. With it he wanted to constitute a revival of the classics with an emphasis on the ‘natural’ depiction of the human nude. Thus the work has a pragmatic as well as a propagandistic side. 49 So where Falconet does not mention any exact rules, albeit that he notes that certain rules form the basis of sculpture, Alberti actually gives specific proportions for the human body. Both note that one has to have good knowledge of the bones, muscles etc.50 To Alberti obtaining a complete likeness in sculpture to their counterparts in nature is relevant to all. 51Measuring techniques and rules to him are especially important for those who wish to not only make a statue that resembles a human being, but resembles that person’s total appearance, for instance Caesar or Cato when he is orating. Another important treatise is that by Orfeo Boselli (1597-1667) Osservationi della scoltura antica (1657). Boselli was a student of the sculptor François Duquesnoy a French royal sculptor who, amongst others, was famous for restoring classic sculptures. Van Gastel notes that Boselli’s treatise is the only extensive seventeenth-century text on sculptural practice by a sculptor.52

Boselli’s ideas reflect Dusquesnoy’s ideas on sculpture. Boselli also wished to write an instructional treatise in which he said that in his own sculpture he tried to work in the Greek manner. According to Lingo Boselli’s treatise could, albeit cautiously, seen as indicative for the ideas sculptors in Duquesnoy’s circle had about sculpture and even long after that.53 Just as Falconet Boselli considered it to be important to distinguish between good and bad Greek sculpture.54 Like Alberti, Boselli too wrote about proportion, such as the ideal bust and head proportions.55 Where Falconet believes the sculptor should in the end trust his own taste, Boselli, like Alberti, is more instructive. For instance, Boselli objected to excessive surface detail. It would not be necessary to

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48 “Je ne dois pas oublier ici une observation importante au sujet des Anciens; elle est essentielle sur la manière dont leurs Sculpteurs traitoient les chairs. Ils étoient - si peu affectés des détails, que souvent ils négligeoient les plis & les mouvemens de la peau dans les endroits où elle s'étend & se replie, selon le mouvement des membres. Cette partie de la Sculpture a peut-être été portée de nos jours à un plus haut dégré de perfection. Un exemple décidera si cette observation est hasardée : il sera, pris dans les ouvrages du Puget.Dans quelle Sculpture Grecque trouve-t-on le sentiment des plis de la peau, de la mollesse des chairs & de la fluidité du sang auili supérieurement rendu que dans les ouvrages de ce célèbre Sculpteur moderne ? Qui est-ce qui ne voit pas circuler le sang dans les veines du Milon, de Versailles Et quel homme sensible ne serait pas tenté de se méprendre en voyant les chairs de l'Andromede ; tandis qu'on peut citer beaucoup de belles figures antiques où ces vérités ne se trouvent pas ?”; “(..)on the subject of the ancients. It is essential in relation to the manner in which their sculptors represented flesh. They were so little concerned with details that often they neglected the wrinkles and movements of the skin in the places where it stretches and fold over according to the action of the limbs. This aspect of sculpture has perhaps been carried to a higher degree of perfection today. An example taken from the works of Puget, will show if my observation is justified. In what Greek statue does one find a feeling for the folds of the skin, for the softness of the flesh, and for the fluidity of the blood, rendered as excellently as in the productions of this famous modern sculptor? Who does not see blood circulating in the veins of the Milo of Versailles? And what sensitive man would not be prone to be fooled when seeing the flesh of the Andromeda..., while one can mention many beautiful figures from the antique lacking a comparable reality?”; Ibidem, p. 71.

49 C.A. van Eck & L. Hermans, Leon Battista Alberti. Over de schilderkunst, Amsterdam 2011, p.111-112.

50 Ibidem, p. 127.

51 Ibidem, p. 116.

52 Van Gastel, J.J., ‘Il marmo spirante’, Sculpture and Experience in Seventeenth-Century Rome (diss. Leiden University), Leiden:2011, p. 56.

53 E.C. Lingo, François Duquesnoy and the Greek Ideal, New Haven Connecticut 2007, p. 19.

54 Ibidem, p. 2 and 21.

55 Ibidem, p.92 and 94.

show all creases in the face, only the most important will do, thus as Van Gastel puts it, “the artist can rely on some fixed ideal.”56 On the whole it can be said that Falconet forgoes with giving specific rules like Alberti and Boselli do. Instead he rather underlines the importance of an artist to rely on his own taste and his own feeling, which indeed, at least nowadays, is considered one of the conditions for being an artist. Certainly one could argue that to Alberti and Boselli would agree that every real artist would have a certain ‘je-ne-sais-quoi’, talent, because that is what makes certain people artists and others not. According to Boselli there are three agents in modelling:the eye, the intellect and the hand. 57 However, it is only Falconet who mentions feeling and taste explicitly.

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56 Ibidem, p. 94 and Van Gastel op.cit. (s.n. 56), p. 58.

57 J. van Gastel, ‘Michelangelo’s Lesson: The Baroque Bozzetto between Creation and Destruction’, in: Das Haptische Bild, I. Wenderholm, J. Trempler & M. Rath (ed.) Berlin 2013, p. 220.

Image 1I-IV Étienne-Maurice Falconet, Pygmalion au pied de sa statue, à l’instant où elle s’anime, 1761, group, marble, 0,835 x 0,482 x 0,261 m, Paris, Musée du Louvre, department of Sculptures.

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PygmalionFalconet’s statue of Pygmalion, made of marble instead of ivory in the myth, consists of a large base on which three figures are positioned (see Image title page). On the far right we see Pygmalion on his right knee bending forward, leaning his left knee against an unfinished piece of marble. His upper-body is bending away a little. He is wearing sandals and a robe with a lot of pleats. The bottom-half is folded in a swirl. His tools are on the base by his left knee. He is holding his hands together towards the left side of his breast, close to his heart. His mouth is half open and he is gazing at the face of the statue. The female figure is standing on a pedestal positioned on the unfinished piece of marble. This too is not in accordance with the myth, in which the female figure is lying down when she is animated.The pedestal is partly tilted. She is naked apart from a pearl hair adornment. Her left leg is bent, the right one is straight. She is bending a little towards Pygmalion, her gaze directed towards his. The choice for the verb ‘to bend’ instead of ‘to tilt’ is on purpose, to denote the parts that are already alive. One may assume the lifeless statue would not have been tilted in direction of the kneeling sculptor. Because of the bending of her leg and body and her gaze, we can see she is already coming alive. The eyes are pierced to suggest life. The suggestion of life with artificial measures, which do not exist in real life, is an interesting phenomenon discussed by Cousinié.58 Her pedestal is partly exposed. Her right foot is directed to the front. The pedestal and her body are partly in and leaning against what seems part cloud part stone. The cloud itself is spread out onto the base and on the back of the group to the right of Pygmalion, and onto the lap of Pygmalion. At the back of the group the cloud takes up half of the height of the group. On the top of the cloud, half behind the statue, a Cupid is seated. He is holding the female figure’s right hand and his mouth is touching her hand. He is looking at Pygmalion. Thus, their three gazes together form a so called machinist square. A lot of different textures are recognizable: the sleek base and the statue’s pedestal, the unworked second base, the robe, the cloud, the naked flesh of the statue and chubby Cupid’s flesh, the muscles of Pygmalion. The statue offers interesting views from all sides having been elaborated on all sides. When seen from the right, one particularly sees the right leg of the statue still in the cloud, the right foot still stands firmly on the pedestal and thus does not yet seem to be alive (Image II-III). In some way due to the shadow cast over the lower part of her body that part seems lifeless, the upper part is free from cloud or stone and thus showered in light, thus looking warmer and more alive (Image III and title page). According to Stoichita Falconet was very clever in choosing the title Groupe de marbre, représentant Pygmalion aux pieds de sa statue, à l’instant où elle s’anime.59 It would indicate that it is a performative work, a sculpture within a sculpture. This is reinforced by what he calls another paratextual element, namely the successive fitting of the different bases of the statues in each other. 60 The female figure stands on a circular plinth, which is placed on a rectangular base, which in turn is put on a pedestal. This pedestal, according to Stoichita, belongs to two different levels of reality. The first level represents the surface support of the story, but on a second level it is the exhibitory base of a marble group. 61 This means that the plinth she is standing on, is part of the narrative. The other large plinth on which the whole group is placed, is the actual plinth of the statue as a whole. So, the statue is in line with eighteenth century taste, at least regarding the bases. However, there is no step involved.62

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58 Cousinié op.cit. (s.n. 11), p.295.

59 Marble group representing Pygmalion at the feet of his statue at the moment she comes to life.

60 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p. 131-132.

61 Ibidem, p. 131-132.

62 Ibidem, p. 133.

As said, people were very enthusiastic about the painter Raoux who had succeeded in depicting the distinction between and transition from inanimate matter to flesh truthfully using colour. In this context it is good to refer to the circumstance that Falconet referred to the paragone between painting and sculpture when he notes in his Réflexions sur la sculpture (1760) that sculpture has less possibilities than painting. For example, it is harder to represent different types of materials. Also, in his Pymalion, one can see that sculpture has ‘limited’ posibilities. There is no (use of) colour-in any case Falconet was opposed to this- and the cloud with the Cupid can not be detached from the whole. One of the difficulties of sculpture, according to Falconet, is that once a sculptor has finished one perspective of the statue, he has to work on yet another. The reason being that a sculpture can be viewed from as many viewpoints as the space around it permits. So a sculptor cannot take any short cuts. 63 With respect to the paragone, this can be seen as an advantage of sculpture over painting; three dimensional versus two dimensional. Regarding Pygmalion Falconet elaborated all sides with the same amount of detail. Falconet appears to consider the animation to be a more divine intervention; the figure is touched by Cupid in that moment and not by Pygmalion. Stoichita remarks that Cupid, despite its role, is not mentioned in the title of the statue, and that he does not have a base or plinth as the other figures. Instead he has a cloud. Clouds were a key object in paintings of the first half of the 18th century, because they represented both epiphany and separation. Thus, Falconet applies a pictorial feature in sculpture. In this sculpture the cloud also represents epiphany, but its purpose is not to separate, but to unify. Stoichita points out that when viewed from behind, the statue shows that the putto is not only resting on the cloud, but he is born from it. Also, the statue is born from it. Although not actually mentioned in literature, the cloud not only has a symbolic, but also a technical, supportive function for the Cupid at least. Otherwise the Cupid would seem to be springing out of the female figure. 64

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63 “La Sculpture a des difficultés qui lui sont particulières, I°. Un Sculpteur n'est dispensé d'aucune partie de son étude à la faveur des ombres, des fuyans, des tournans & des raccourcis. 2°. S'il a bien composé & bien rendu une vue de son ouvrage il n'a satisfait qu'à une partie de son opération, puisque cet ouvrage peut avoir autant de points de vue qu'il y aura de points dans l'espace qui l'environne. ; 3°. Un Sculpteur doit avoir l'imagination aussi forte qu'un Peintre ; je ne dis pas aussi abondante. Il lui faut de plus une tenacité dans le génie qui lemetté au-dessus du dégoût causé par le méchanisme , la fatigue & la lenteur de ses opérations. Le génie ne s'acquiert point, il se développe , s'étend & se sortisse par l'exercice. Un Sculpteur exerce le sien moins souvent qu'un Peintre i , difficulté de plus, puisque dans un ouvrage de Sculpture, il doit y avoir du génie comme dans un ouvrage de Peinture. 4°. Le Sculpteur étant privé du charme séduisant de la couleur , quelle intelligence ne doit-il pas y avoir dans ses moyens pour attirer l'attention ? Pour la fixer, quelle précision , quelle vérité, quel choix d'expression ne doit - il pas mettre dans ses ouvrages?”

(4) The sculptor, being deprived of the seductive charms of colour, must use his most skillful means to attract attention. How much precision, how much truth, how much expression must be put into his work in order to retain this attention!Thus the sculptor will be expected to hold the interest of the spectator not only by the total effect but also by the effect of each individual part, for the work of a sculptor consists most frequently in a single figure in which he cannot concentrate all the different elements that make a painting appealing. Painting, quite apart from colour, fixes our attention through different groups, varied attributes, ornaments, expressions of persons who are part of the main theme. It appeals through its background, its setting as well as its total effect. In a word, it commands attention as a whole. The sculptor on the other hand most frequently can say one word only. This word must be "sublime." This is the way by which the sculptor will approach his goal and move the soul to the extent to which it can be moved.

64 The cloud in literature is linked to Rococo and Baroque. The gaping of Pygmalion to Baroque. As we have read in his text Falconet stated not to have been sensible to fashion. Certainly one can never isolate oneself from the outside world, but it could be said that he was not activily seeking certain styles. He was open to using Bernini, the grand baroque sculptor as an example; See Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p. 132; Compare Levetine op.cit. (s.n. 10, p.33 and 35 who compares the composition with the cloud with ‘an exploding Roman candle’; See for example J. van Gastel, ‘Bernini’s metamorphosis: sculpture, poetry, and the embodied beholder’, Word & Image: A Journal of Verbal/Visual Enquiry, (28)2012-2, p. 193-205 for a very similar article about Bernini’s Apollo & Daphne.

Three Diderot and the Salons: from stone to words to life

“Je vous décrirai les tableaux, et ma description sera telle qu’avec un peu d’imagination et de goût on les réalisera dans l’espace, et qu’on y posera les objets à peu près comme nous les avons vus sur la toile.” 65

This sentence of Diderot’s goes to the core of what he wished to achieve with his reports: that by reading the reports alone, you would get as close to the object as you could get without actually being present at the Salon.

(New) role of the public + the SalonsThe Salons were a unique phenomenon in Europe. They contributed to ‘le modèle français’ an ambitious policy started by Louis XIV, essentially to counterweight the cultural supremacy of Italy and in general to benefit and display the artistic and thus political power of France. The institution of the Académie is an essential part of this system in which the State has a leading role. In this system, which also has an economical aspect, the Académie has a certain independence, because of the recruitment system of a ‘concours’ to favor independancy of artists and emulation between them. The Salon is the place where the artists exhibit their works for all to see. It could be seen as the first public art market. Despite the fact that the Salon was supervised and directed by the Académie, the Académie unwillingly starts to get to deal with the opinions of the public. 66 This democratisation of art is in line with Falconet’s thoughts about art. In 1759 baron Frédéric-Melchior Grimm asks Diderot to write reports of the Salons for La Correspondance littéraire. These were only copied by hand and distributed to a select public. Thus it escaped censorship and could use (a) very liberal tone, style and ideas. This was very beneficial to Diderot having had problems because of the Encyclopédie (1751-1772) and having even been persecuted after publishing La Lettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient (1749) and Les Bijoux indiscrets (1748).67

Even if Diderot might not have been the first to write reports that were to be read without being in the presence of the artwork, his texts were truly aimed at substituting a visit to the Salons; all readers lived far away.68 This practice of using rhetorical qualities to substitute the absence of an image is the ancient art of ekphrasis. Diderot uses it for example in La promenade Vernet (Salon 1767) too where he seems to be describing a conversation with l’Abbé about paintings by Vernet during a fictional walk; the reader realizes soon enough that Diderot is actually speaking about an actual painting. Lojkine states that ekphrasis is an epideictic genre; aimed at celebrating painting. He explains it by saying that the painting one describes and the text it represents, are transparent one towards the other: describing the painting and paraphrasing the literary text are one.69 However, it is important to bare in mind that Diderot not merely describes the art work, but adds his own experience as an observer. This explains what Jean Starobinski stated about Diderot’s la Promenade Vernet, namely that his writings are litterary constructions:

“le rêve Diderot est une pure construction littéraire.”70

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65 “I will describe paintings to you, and my description will be that which with a little imagination and taste, will be realized in space, and in which we will place objects almost like we have seen them on the painting (itself)”; Diderot, Salon 1765.

66 http://sites.univ-provence.fr/pictura/Diderot/SalonsEkphrasis.php , last consulted 9 May 2014.

67 Ibidem.

68 According to Lojkine and others Diderot was not the first to write reports that were to be read without being in the presence of the artwork or even having a print to accompany the text. Already texts were written as autonomous objects, to substitute them in a way. However in the case of Diderot’s salons, this circumstance is even more sure and indisputable; Ibidem.

69 Ibidem; Lojkine specifically mentions painting, but there is no reason to believe that what he states is not applicable to sculpture as well.

70 P. Wagner, Icons-Texts-Iconotexts: Essays on Ekphrasis and Intermediality, New York 1996, p. 61.

Van Oostveldt states regarding landscape painting and Diderot:

“(...) that since in landscape painting the depiction of human action is not the central theme, Diderot developed for it a totally different view of the relation between beholder and representation. (...) In his accounts of (...) JosephVernet the viewer is no longer said to be excluded from the depicted scene, but is now understood as invited to participate, or seduced into doing so, by inviting the viewer to step into the painting.With the fiction of physically entering a painting,‘the estrangement of the beholder from the objects of his beholding is overcome; the condition of

spectatorship is transformed and thereby redeemed’. In fact the illusion is created that the spectator has stopped being a spectator of a work of art. Instead, as Diderot has shown in his famous section on theVernet paintings in the Salon de 1767, the spectator has become a participant that has successfully closed the gap between representation and spectator.”71

Something Diderot does not do regarding Vernet for example, but does with Pygmalion, is that he actually refers to the statue physically and to its title. It should be noted that here too there is some form of the paragone. This time not only between painting and sculpture, but also regarding literature. Another trait of Diderot’s reports is that they have journalistic qualities. With the Salons as a new phenomenon the way of writing about art changed. It was no longer aimed at creating a ‘pantheon’ for celebrated artists, such as Vasari did with his Life of the Artists (1550), amongst others in ekphrasis. Instead it was writing a report of an actual exhibition in which the reader wished to be guided. The writer made a selection of interesting works to write about. Lojkine points out that one should be reminded that the writer presents the artworks as an objective magnificent galérie, but of course he already made a- necessarily subjective - selection of artworks to write about. This way these reports are brought in an intimate sphere which therefore constitutes a contradiction: the reports are sprung from a new public space, the Salon, but they originated in a very intimate sphere using the personal taste of the writer. So, according to Lojkine the collective national destiny of art is in the hands of the reporter who actually hás the intimate experience with the artworks.72

Certainly, the piece Diderot wrote about the statue by Falconet is, as we will see, a different kind of text than his Promenade de Vernet. Even so, it can be argued that here too Diderot’s eloquency in a way transports the reader from far away to the statue or better said, the animated figures of the statue.

PygmalionDiderot starts by praising the statue. Then he tells the reader the title of the statue and he describes the statue. The female figure has her first thought. After this he moves to Cupid and then to Pygmalion. He then praises Falconet. He finds the whole group admirable. However, Diderot would like to suggest another composition in which the figures would touch each other. In the following, Diderot’s Salon writings on Falconet’s Pygmalion will be analyzed using the method of close reading as described by professor Van Eck.73 Diderot is the speaker of the text. It is written from his perspective. He immediately starts by giving his own opinion. He even presents it as a fact:

“Il n’y a que celui-là au Salon, et de longtemps il n’aura de second.”74

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71 B. van Oostveldt, ‘Ut pictura hortus/ut theatrum hortus: Theatricality and French picturesque garden theory (1771-95)’, Art History, 2010, Vol.33(2), pp. 364 - 377; 372-373.

72 Op.cit. (s.n. 66).

73 For the full text please see Appendix I.

74 “There is only that one in the Salon/there is none alike, and for a long time there will not be a second one (like it).”

Then he notes that nature and the Graces are responsible for the pose of the statue. He promptly mentions the way the statue comes alive. He finds the statue very lifelike.He moves on to Cupid. It has a very active role in ‘devouring’ the hand of the statue. Diderot even starts addressing Cupid directly:

“Petit perfide, je te reconnais ; puissé-je pour mon bonheur, ne te plus rencontrer.”75

This adds to the lifelikeness of the statue. It is as if we are actually present at the deciding moment, at the moment it all happens. Then Diderot comes to Pygmalion by noting his pose while interpreting what Pygmalion must be thinking at that moment. He does not mention the tools lying beside Pygmalion. Instead he turns to Falconet:

“O Falconet, comment as-tu fait pour mettre dans un morceau de pierre blanche la surprise, la joie et l’amour fondus ensemble. Émule des dieux, s’ils ont animé la statue, tu en as renouvelé le miracle en animant le statuaire. Viens que je t’embrasse ; mais crains que coupable du crime de Prométhée, un vautour ne t’attende aussi.”76

Diderot is surprised at Falconet’s accomplishment. More especially at the way he succeeded in expressing, melting even, three types of emotions together. Thus he even emulates the Gods; they animated the statue, but Falconet animated the sculptor. He warns him by using a metaphor; he might be punished like Prometheus by the eagle eating his lever. Earlier on he also compared him to Phidias, one of the best sculptors from ancient Greece.

“Toute belle que soit la figure du Pygmalion, on pouvait la trouver avec du talent ; mais on n’imagine point la tête de la statue sans génie.”“Le faire du groupe entier est admirable. C’est une matière une, dont le statuaire a tiré trois sortes de chairs différentes. Celles de la statue ne sont point celles de l’enfant, ni celles-ci les chairs du Pigmalion.”77

Falconet not only is talented, he is a genius. Then Diderot starts looking at the whole of the sculptural group. The marble group forms a unity.78 It is made from one material and from this Falconet created three different types of flesh. This is an exceptional achievement, because until then this was not thought possible in sculpture. He notes that although the statue is not entirely faultless, this does not matter; It will be admired for millennia to come. 79 Diderot does not mention a plinth or a step although in literature it is stated that this was such an essential element in the eighteenth century. Finally, Diderot does a suggestion for another composition. In this composition the figures will touch, which is not the case in Falconet’s sculpture. Pygmalion will be placed on the left, expression the same, but scissors tightly held in his right hand. The putto will be placed at he left hand of the female statue. Diderot feels that his composition would be more energetic and special than the one Falconet conceived:

“Il me semble que ma pensée est plus neuve, plus rare et plus énergique que celle de Falconet. Mes figures seraient encore mieux groupées que les siennes. Elles se toucheraient.”

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75 “Little traitor, I recognize you; I hope for my sake we will not meet again.”

76 “O Falconet, how did you succeed in expressing in one piece of stone surprise, joy and love melted into one? Emulator of the gods, if they indeed have animated the statue, you have renewed that miracle by animating the sculptor himself. Come here, so I can embrace you; but beware: since you are guilty of the Prometheus-crime, a vulture awaits you too.”

77 “The way the whole group is made, is admirable. From one material the sculptor has made three different types of flesh. The one of the statue is not that of the child, nor of Pygmalion.”

78 Stoichita op.cit. (s.n. 2), p. 132.

79 Lojkine points out that in this passage Diderot shows his dislike of art critics; http://sites.univ-provence.fr/pictura/Diderot/SalonsDecrireLimage.php last consulted 9 May 2014.

So Diderot is not only sensible to the purely plastic representation, but also to the rhetoric of the subject.80 In other words, this composition brings the whole closer to the original myth. Regarding the public, as we have seen, Diderot directs himself at some time directly to Cupid and to Falconet. Earlier on Diderot has a tête à tête with a public he holds in high estime, a public he distinguishes from a broader one:

“O la chose précieuse que ce petit groupe de Falconet ! Voilà le morceau que j’aurais dans mon cabinet, si je me piquais d’avoir un cabinet. Ne vaudrait-il pas mieux sacrifier tout d’un coup… Mais laissons cela. Nos amateurs sont des gens à breloques; ils aiment mieux garnir leurs cabinets de vingt morceaux médiocres que d’en avoir un seul et beau.”81

Here the term bibelot obviously has a negative connotation; the broader public put quantity over quality. The select public he directs his writings to, can hardly be another than the one with a subscription to his Salons.

“Le groupe précieux dont je veux vous parler, il est assez inutile de vous dire que c’est le Pigmalion au pied de sa statue qui s’anime. Il n’y a que celui-là au Salon, et de longtemps il n’aura de second.”82

So thís public has taste and knowledge. It would hardly be necessary to explain to this public what statue he is referring to. Also, he could mean that the quality of the statue precedes itself. Diderot actually names the statue, which is a whole difference from what he does in le Promenade de Vernet. Furthermore, by inviting the public to touch the statue, he directly lets the public connect with the statue:

“Appuyez-y votre doigt, et la matière qui a perdu sa dureté, cédera à votre impression.”83

So there is a contradiction that Diderot is playing with; Pygmalion touches the statue and realizes it is alive whilst if the public would touch the seamingly alive statue, it would ‘turn to stone’ again. Apart from here Diderot does not directly address a particular public; for this part it could also easily be a personal journal.It appears that Diderot wishes to establish different kinds of relationships with the public. By firstly creating some sort of tête à tête with the reader he tries to inspire some confidence. Also, he tries the reader to admire the statue and to agree with him. Finally after probably having gained the reader’s confidence, he goes as far as challenging the reader to touch the statue as if he then would actually touch flesh rather than stone. Although the reader rationally knows that of course he would touch only stone, at least he titillates him to do so and thus creates some form of confusion. Furthermore, since the readers were all far away from the Salon, they would not ever been able to touch the statue. By imagining to touch the statue one could say Diderot creates a feeling of nearness, psychologically and physically, to the statue. The aim of his text would be to inform the reader of the exceptional qualities, the great execution and to persuade the reader of at least the merits of the statue, even though he writes he believes the reader already knows this himself.

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80 Hilaire, Wuhrmann & Zeder op.cit. (s.n. 5), p. 152.

81 “O this small group by Falconet is so precious! See here the piece that I would have in my own cabinet, if I would have one. Would it not be better to sacrifice (sic) all of a sudden... But let us not dwell on this. Our amateurs are people that like bibelots; they would rather fill their cabinets with twenty mediocre pieces than to have only one that’s truly beautiful.”

82 “The precious group I wish to speak to you about, it is quite unnecessary to tell you it is Pigmalion. There is only one at the Salon, and for a long time there will be none other.”

83 “Touch it with your finger, and the material which has lost its hardness, will give way at your impression.”

So Diderot really had an intimate experience with the statue. He does not content himself with merely describing it, but includes far more, including his emotional response to it. He even goes as far as questioning the composition.84

Four Mercure de FranceDiderot often criticized the Académie and its teachings, and he wrote famous texts against the routine-like copy after a model, that resulted in stereotype academic figures:

"Toutes ses positions academiques, contraintes, apprêtées, arrangées, toutes ces actions froidement et gauchement exprimées par un pauvre diable (...), qu'ont elles de commun avec les positions et les actions de la nature? (...) Ce n'est pas dans l'école qu'on apprend la conspiration générale des mouvements, conspiration qui se sent, qui se voit, qui s'étend et serpente de la tête aux pieds." Les règles ont fait de l'art une routine (...) elles ont nui à l'homme de génie.''85

So, in general at least, Diderot thought the rules of the Académie made art routine-like. 86 Discussed here is part of a report of the Salon of 1763 concerning Falconet’s statue printed in Le Mercure. Lojkine points out that printed journals such as Le Mercure would not dare to be too negative, because they feared the anger of the Académie.87 Perhaps one’s first reaction would be that therefore their texts are not interesting. However, since they would not dare to go against the thoughts of the Académie, one could say that they at least show us what the Académie considered to be good sculpture. The text is written from the third person in a distant or factual manner, which is partly due to the use of the French word ‘on’ a lot, meaning ‘we/one’. No clearly distinctive public is addressed by the text. It can be assumed that the text is addressed to the reader of the Mercure. Sometimes the word ‘nous’, ‘we’ is used, together with ‘on’. Instead of creating a personal tone, it feels more as if the whole text is just a statement. It gives the impression that the writer does not consider any discussion about the contents is needed.     The text first of all mentions that the whole public admired the statue. What follows is a short description of the statue. Particular attention is given to Cupid who is called “the source and the author of the fire attributing the statue its soul”. Through art the spectator can see Cupid start the process of animation with his breath. According to Le Mercure there is a clear distinction between living and lifeless parts of the statue. The proces of animation supposedly starts in one of the arms of the female figure where Cupid has his lips and gives her breath of life.  It states that delicate nuances of surprise, mouvement and the first feelings of this female figure come from the first fires of life:

  “Un petit Amour qui a la bouche sur un des bras de cette figure, semble être la source & l’auteur du feu qui lui donne l’âme & dont par le plus agréable des prestiges, l’Art indique aux yeux du Spectateur le progrès du souffle embrâsé de cet Amour. C’est cette distinction des parties déjà animées de la statue d’avec celles qui ne sont encore que matière, qui paroissoit rendre ce sujet supérieur aux possibilités de l’art, & qu’en effet nous ne sçavons pas avoir été traité en Sculpture précédemment par aucun Maître antique ou moderne.”88

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84 Compare with op.cit. (s.n. 66).

85 “All those academic positions, arranged, all those actions coldly expressed by a poor devil (...) what do they have in common with positions and actions of nature (...) it is not in school that we learn the general conspiration of movement, conspiration which is felt, is seen, which spreads from head to toe. Rules have made of art a routine. It has taken genius from man.”; Hilaire, Wuhrmann & Zeder op.cit. (s.n. 5), p. 139.

86Which rules did the Academie truly have? A great source for research would be the Conférences de l'Académie Royale de peinture et de sculpture. Unfortunately concerning this subject they are unpublished. http://www.dtforum.org/index.php?id=88&L=2 last consulted 9 May 2014; They are only printed until 1711 and otherwise not available in the Netherlands.

87 op.cit. (s.n. 6).

88 “It is the distinction between the parts of the statue that have already come alive, with those that are still only (lifeless) matter, which makes this subject superior to the possibilities of art and we know that no ancient or modern Master has ever done before.”

  Then the writer moves to the female statue and a little further on to Pygmalion, both eloquently depicted according to the Mercure. Focusing especially on the different emotions. Then he returns to Cupid. Once again is emphasized that Cupid is the source of the animation:

“Il a rendu plus sensible l’effet par la cause, & moyennant cet Amour, on apperçoit plus clairement encore le changement de la matière en une figure animée. En un mot, on ne prendra qu’une idée juste de ce Grouppe, en se figurat voir réaliser la fable même qu’il représente.”

According to Le Mercure Falconet is the first to have succeeded in depicting the animation of stone in sculpture. It seemed to be impossible to make a successful rendition of this subject in sculpture because of the distinction that has to be made between parts of the sculpture that have already come alive and parts that are still only stone, and that to their knowledge this subject had not yet before been treated in sculpture were it modern or antique. Thus, also Le Mercure refers to the paragone between sculpture and painting. Then the writer moves to the female figure, who shows several nuances in her expression: surprise, movement, and the first feelings of a being who owes life to a Cupid and at the same time feels all types of passions.     The design (of the female figure) is simple and forms a soft unity which makes it charming. The writer finds the figure of Pygmalion equally well executed. As he previously did for Cupid he briefly describes the attitude of this figure:

“Il est, comme nous l’avons déjà dit, aux pieds de la statue; on sent à sa position le mouvement par lequel il est prêt à s’élancer vers elle ; ses deux mains sont serrées l’une dans l’autre, action naturelle à sa situation & qui marque en même temps & le prodige & le sentiment qui en résulte. La joie, la surprise & l’amour sont exprimés avec un tel enthousiasme, dans ce Pigmalion, qu’on doute si ce n’est pas plutôt par ses regards que la statue est animée, que par le pouvoir surnaturel des Dieux qu’il invoque.”

Special attention is given to the movement, the circumstance that Pygmalion is just about to throw himself at the statue. Also, here several emotions are expressed at one time; joy, surprise and love. So it was not Pygmalion, but Cupid who instilled life into the statue. Although here it says that joy is expressed in such a way in Pygmalion’s face that it makes one doubt if it is not just with hís looks that the statue has come alive. So at the very least Falconet was good at expressing the feelings of the figures. Finally attention is reverted to Cupid whose execution deserves particular praise. It makes possible to show the cause and effect and it makes possible to see the change from lifeless to living matter:

“L’action du petit Amour, sur la statue, est un des plus heureux traits de l’invention. C’est par ce moyen que l’Artiste a très-bien suppléé à celui que pourroit employer la Peinture, & qui sembloit manquer à la Sculpture. Il a rendu plus sensible l’effet par la cause, & moyennant cet Amour, on apperçoit plus clairement encore le changement de la matière en une figure animée. En un mot, on ne prendra qu’une idée juste de ce Grouppe, en se figurat voir réaliser la fable même qu’il représente.”89

So again there is praise for Falconet who succeeded to do something in sculpture, which was thought to be possible only in painting.

ConclusionTopic of this paper is the idea and expression of animation through the myth of Pygmalion in eighteenth century thought and art. In the original myth the animation is definitely a case of divine

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89 “The action of the small putto (...) is one of the most fortunate of the (whole) invention. This way the artist has supplemented very well what would be used in Painting, and what seemed to be missing in Sculpture. He has made the effect more sensible by its cause and in using this putto, one sees even more clearly the change in the material in an animated figure. In one word, by taking only one good idea of this group, one makes visible the whole story it represents.”

intervention. Touch by Pygmalion also plays a significant part, but not regarding the actual animation. To eighteenth century thinkers such as Condillac man is a complex machine. Life to Condillac is the ability to have sensory perception and to gain knowledge and self-awareness through that. He researches this in his Traité des Sensations (1754) by animating a statue in an artificial universe. Thus, he himself in a sense becomes Pygmalion. No divine intervention is involved here. Touch plays an important role in life, as in Condillac’s experiment; it allows us to be aware of and to make comparisons between the internal and external. To register the experiences of the different senses, memory is indispensable. Life to Condillac is knowledge, established with the aid of the senses and memory. In this body and mind are interconnected.! Rousseau's Pygmalion. Scène lyrique (1762) a play published a year before Falconet’s statue saw the light, seems to be the first piece where Pygmalion brings his perfect image to life himself, albeit with the aid of divine inspiration. For the greater part it is written from the perspective of Pygmalion, from what he feels and sees. The first sign of life is movement of the statue felt by Pygmalion. Then follows the colouring of her flesh (plural), ‘fire’ in her eyes and more movement. It is only at the end that the statue is heard. Contrary to Condillac’s statue, Galathée is immediately self-conscious and she is able to differentiate between internal-external. She identifies herself with Pygmalion. This may be as her maker, as a fellow human, lover or all of the above. The piece can also be seen as an hommage to the artist; the artist is his work and lives forever through his work. Falconet’s Réflexions (1760) can be seen as one if not the only contemporary complete and passionate document of the ‘artist’s point of view’. Interestingly, Falconet’s Réflexions were read in the Académie to be published in the controversial Encyclopédie a little later; they seem to be such counterparts. This raises questions for further research such as: was his text censured for the Académie? Was it adapted for the Encyclopédie? To Falconet study of natural objects submitted to the principles of the ancients combined with feeling is key. In doing so, the artist should trust his own good taste, not fashion. He should not forget he makes sculpture for all men. Therefore feeling should play an important part in sculpting, for feeling is the soul of sculpture, feeling is universal. It is the first text where taste and feeling of the sculptor are given importance. As feeling is universal, Falconet states, all men can judge art. This makes his text typical for the age of Enlightenment. This brings us to the actual statue. How did Falconet express life here? The title of his statue implies that what is depicted, is the actual moment the statue comes to life. This is suggested firstly by her posture and the pierced eyes. Cupid’s mouth is touching her hand. Also, a lot of different textures are recognizable, which help to distinguish between life and lifeless: the sleek base with the statue’s pedestal, the unworked second base, the robe, the cloud, the naked flesh of the statue and chubby Cupid’s flesh, the muscles of Pygmalion. The statue having elaborated from all sides, provides different views of the figures. This way the beholder in a way can examine himself which parts are alive or not. To Falconet the animation seems primarily a divine intervention with Cupid kissing her hand and Pygmalion looking up at the statue. His work is in line with the taste of the period concerning the use of plinths, but there is no step by the female statue. His composition is mostly in line with Ovid’s myth; Cupid, as the divine presence, plays a central part. However, there is no touch involved. This is what Diderot proposed to change. And so we come to Diderot and what feels like a very personal account. It is even as if he himself is beside you and telling you about the statue, because of the personal tone. He thoroughly describes the statue; it comes alive before your eyes so to speak. It is very different from Le Mercure, which gives us a more detached, factual text, although it praises the statue as well. Diderot also presents the merits of the statue as facts, but he does so in a far less authoritative manner by including the public in the process. Diderot even addresses the figures. He treats them as living creatures. To Diderot depiction of animation is largely the same as for Falconet, apart from the importance that touch has to him. One of the notable things he does in this respect, is to propose

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a change in composition where the figures would actually touch. As Falconet tried to depict the group at the moment the statue comes to life, we can conclude that to Diderot an essential element to depict this moment successfully, would be the physical contact between figures. This follows also from the fact that he even invites the public to ‘touch’ the living statue. Notable regarding the Mercure is its mention of different states of animation and different emotions. Images

Image Title pageÉtienne-Maurice Falconet, Pygmalion au pied de sa statue, à l’instant où elle s’anime, 1761, group, marble, 0,835 x 0,482 x 0,261 m, Paris, Musée du Louvre, department of Sculptures.

http://mini-site.louvre.fr/saison18e/_commun/antiquite_revee/zoom_jpg/ar09.jpg

Image 1

http://museefabre.montpellier-agglo.com/pdf.php/?filePath=var/storage/original/application/7d40bd11a3eeeee03975d84abc791ce2.pdf

Images II-IV

http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/photo_ME0000033864.html

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Appendix 1 Ovid, Metamorphoses,10. 238-97, in Stoichita 2008, p. 206-207.

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Appendix II Jean-Jacques Rousseau Pygmalion. Scène lyrique, (1762) chosen parts

“ (...)O Galathée! recevez mon hommage. Oui je me suis trompe: j’ai: voulu vous faire Nymphe, & je vous ai fait Déesse. Venus même est moins belle que vous.

Vanité, foiblesse humaine: je ne puis me lasser d’admirer mon ouvrage; je m’enivre d’amour-propre; je m’adore dans ce que j’ai fait....Non, jamais rien de si beau ne parut dans la nature; j’ai passe l’ouvrage des Dieux....

Quoi! tant de beautés sortent de mes mains? Mes mains les ont donc touchées?....ma bouche a donc pu....Je vois un défaut. Ce vêtement couvre trop le nu; il faut l’échancrer davantage; les charmes qu’il recèle doivent être mieux annonces.

II prend son maillet & son ciseau; puis s’avançant lentement il monte, en hésitant, les gradins de la statue qu’il semble n’oser toucher. Enfin, le ciseau déjà lève, il s’arrête....

Quel tremblement! quel trouble!....Je tiens le ciseau d’une main mal-assurée....je ne puis....je n’ose....je gâterai tout.

II s’encourage, & enfin présentant son ciseau il en donne[195] un seul coup, & saisi d’effroi, il le laisse tomber en poussant un grand cri.

Dieux! je sens la chair palpitante repousser le ciseau!....

(...)Mais il te manque une ame: ta figure ne peut s’en passer.

(...) Qu’ai-je vu? Dieux! qu’ai-je cru voir? Le coloris des chairs, un feu dans les yeux, des

mouvemens même.... ce n’etoit pas assez d’espérer le prodige; pour comble de misère, enfin, je ai vu....

(...) Il la voit s’animer, & se détourne saisi d’effroi ici le cœur serre de douleur.

Qu’ai-je vu? Dieux! qu’ai-je cru voir? Le coloris des chairs, un feu dans les yeux, des

mouvemens même.... ce n’etoit pas assez d’espérer le prodige; pour comble de misère, enfin, je ai vu....

Il se retourne, & voit la statue se mouvoir & descendre elle-même les gradins par lesquels

i1 a monte sur le pied-d’estal. Il se jette à genoux & lève les mains & les yeux au Ciel. Dieu immortels! Venus! Galathée! o prestige d’un amour forcené.

GALATHÉE se touche & dit.

Moi.

PYGMALION transporte.

Moi!

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GALATHÉE se touchant encore. C’est moi.

PYGMALION.

Ravissante illusion qui passes jusqu’à mes oreilles, ah.! n’abandonne jamais mes sens.. GALATHÉE, fait quelques pas & touche un marbre.

Ce n’est plus moi.

Pygmalion dans une agitation, dans des transports qu’il a peine à contenir, suit tous ses

mouvements, l’écoute, l’observe avec une avide attention qui lui permet à peine de respirer.

[200] Galathée, s’avance vers lui & le regarde; il se lève précipitamment, lui tend les bras, & la regarde avec extase. Elle pose une main sur lui; il tressaillit, prend cette main, la porte à son cœur, puis la couvre d’ardens baisers.

GALATHÉE avec un soupir.

Ah! encore moi.

PYGMALION.

Oui, cher & charmant objet; oui, digne chef-d’oeuvre de mes mains, de mon cœur & des

Dieux: c’est toi, c’est toi seule: je t’ai donne tout mon être; je ne vivrai plus que par toi.”

Appendix 1II Denis Diderot, Salon de 1763

“O la chose précieuse que ce petit groupe de Falconet  ! Voilà le morceau que j’aurais dans mon cabinet, si je me piquais d’avoir un cabinet. Ne vaudrait-il pas mieux sacrifier tout d’un coup… Mais laissons cela. Nos amateurs sont des gens à breloques  ; ils aiment mieux garnir leurs cabinets de vingt morceaux médiocres que d’en avoir un seul et beau.

Le groupe précieux dont je veux vous parler, il est assez inutile de vous dire que c’est le Pigmalion au pied de sa statue qui s’anime. Il n’y a que celui-là au Salon, et de longtemps il n’aura de second.

La nature et les Grâces ont disposé de l’attitude de la statue. Ses bras tombent mollement à ses côtés. Ses yeux viennent de s’entrouvrir. Sa tête est un peu inclinée vers la terre, ou plutôt vers Pigmalion qui est à ses pieds. La vie se décèle en elle par un souris léger qui effleure sa lèvre supérieure. Quelle innocence elle a  ! Elle en est à sa première pensée. Son cœur commence à s’émouvoir ; mais il ne tardera pas à lui palpiter. Quelles mains ! Quelle mollesse de chair ! Non, ce n’est pas du marbre. Appuyez-y votre doigt, et la matière qui a perdu sa dureté, cédera à votre impression. Combien de vérité sur ces côtes ! Quels pieds ! Qu’ils sont doux et délicats !

Un petit Amour a saisi une des mains de la statue, qu’il ne baise pas, qu’il dévore. Quelle vivacité  ! Quelle ardeur  ! Combien de malice dans la tête de cet Amour  ! Petit perfide, je te reconnais ; puissé-je pour mon bonheur, ne te plus rencontrer.

Un genou en terre, l’autre levé, les mains serrées fortement l’une dans l’autre, Pigmalion est devant son ouvrage et le regarde. Il cherche dans les yeux de sa statue la confirmation du prodige que les dieux lui ont promis. O le beau visage que le sien  ! O Falconet, comment as-tu fait pour mettre dans un morceau de pierre blanche la surprise, la joie et l’amour fondus ensemble. Émule des dieux, s’ils ont animé la statue, tu en as renouvelé le miracle en animant le statuaire. Viens que

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je t’embrasse  ; mais crains que coupable du crime de Prométhée, un vautour (gier) ne t’attende aussi.

Toute belle que soit la figure du Pigmalion, on pouvait la trouver avec du talent  ; mais on n’imagine point la tête de la statue sans génie.

Le faire du groupe entier est admirable. C’est une matière une, dont le statuaire a tiré trois sortes de chairs différentes. Celles de la statue ne sont point celles de l’enfant, ni celles-ci les chairs du Pigmalion.

Ce morceau de sculpture est très parfait. Cependant au premier coup d’œil le cou de la statue me parut un peu fort, ou sa tête un peu faible. Les gens de l’art ont confirmé mon jugement. O que la condition d’un artiste est malheureuse ! Que les critiques sont impitoyables et plats  ! Si ce groupe enfoui sous la terre pendant quelques milliers d’années, venait d’en être tiré, avec le nom de Phidias en grec, brisé, mutilé, dans les pieds, dans les bras, je le regarderais en admiration et en silence.

En méditant ce sujet, j’en ai imaginé une autre composition que voici.Je laisse la statue telle qu’elle est, excepté que je demande de droite à gauche, son action

exactement la même qu’elle est de gauche à droite.Je conserve au Pigmalion son expression et son caractère  ; mais je le place à gauche  : il a

entrevu dans sa statue les premiers signes de vie.Il était alors accroupi. Il se relève lentement, jusqu’à ce qu’il puisse atteindre à la place du

cœur. Il y pose légèrement le dos de sa main gauche ; il cherche si le cœur bat ; cependant ses yeux attachés sur ceux de sa statue attendent qu’ils s’entrouvrent. Ce n’est plus alors la main droite de la statue, mais la gauche que le petit Amour dévore.

Il me semble que ma pensée est plus neuve, plus rare et plus énergique que celle de Falconet. Mes figures seraient encore mieux groupées que les siennes. Elles se toucheraient. Je dis que Pigmalion se lèverait lentement ; si les mouvements de la surprise sont prompts et rapides, ils sont ici contenus et tempérés par la crainte, ou de se tromper, ou de mille accidents qui pourraient faire manquer le miracle. Pigmalion tiendrait son ciseau de la main droite, et le serrerait fortement. L’admiration embrasse et serre sans réflexion, ou la chose qu’elle admire, ou celle qu’elle tient.”90

Appendix IV Mercure de France, November 1763, p. 208-210

    “ M . Falconet.    Le Groupe de marbre, qui a si singuliérement attiré l’admiration de tout le Public, représente Pigmalion aux pieds de sa Statue dans le moment qu’elle s’anime. Un petit Amour qui a la bouche sur un des bras de cette figure, semble être la source & l’auteur du feu qui lui donne l’âme & dont par le plus agréable des prestiges, l’Art indique aux yeux du Spectateur le progrès du souffle embrâsé de cet Amour. C’est cette distinction des parties déja animées de la statue d’avec celles qui ne sont encore que matière, qui paroissoit rendre ce sujet supérieur aux possibilités de l’art, & qu’en effet nous ne sçavons pas avoir été traité en Sculpture précédemment par aucun Maître antique ou moderne.    Plus on considère ce Groupe, plus on y remarque, avec surprise, dans la statue de la femme, une expression si juste & si habilement saisie, qu’elle présente les nuances délicates de l’étonnement, du mouvement, presque insensible dans ses effets, & des premiers sentiments d’un Être qui tient la vue du pouvoir de l’Amour & reçoit en même temps toutes les passions, si douces dans leur naissance, qui résutent de ses premiers feux. Le sentiment naïf et fidèle d’où provient l’intérêt, la simplicité du caractère de dessein, l’unité (si l’on peut dire) suave du trait, distinguent éminemment cette charmante figure. Telle est par rapport à cet objet la faible idée que nous pouvons donner de l’art du Sculpteur. Dans la figure de Pigmalion, cet art n’est pas moins éloquent. Il est, comme nous l’avons déja dit, aux pieds de la statue ; on sent à sa position le mouvement par lequel il est prêt à s’élancer vers elle ; ses deux mains sont serrées l’une dans l’autre, action naturelle à sa situation &

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qui marque en même temps & le prodige & le sentiment qui en résulte. La joie, la surprise & l’amour sont exprimés avec un tel enthousiasme, dans ce Pigmalion, qu’on doute si ce n’est pas plutôt par ses regards que la statue est animée, que par le pouvoir surnaturel des Dieux qu’il invoque. L’action du petit Amour, sur la statue, est un des plus heureux traits de l’invention. C’est par ce moyen que l’Artiste a très-bien suppléé à celui que pourroit employer la Peinture, & qui sembloit manquer à la Sculpture. Il a rendu plus sensible l’effet par la cause, & moyennant cet Amour, on apperçoit plus clairement encore le changement de la matière en une figure animée. En un mot, on ne prendra qu’une idée juste de ce Grouppe, en se figurat voir réaliser la fable même qu’il représente.” 91

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