Philopoemen, 1837
Bronze
Pierre-Jean David d’Angers
French, 1788-1856
Pierre-Jean David d’Angers was one of the leading sculptors of the Romantic era, the dominate artistic and intellectual movement at the time of Rodin’s birth in 1840. The French government commissioned David to create a statue of the Greek general Philopoemen as part of a series of heroic sculptures commissioned for the Tuileries Gardens. David chose a dramatic episode in Philopoemen’s life in which the wounded general stoically pulled the javelin from his leg and continued to fight, winning the battle.
David was best known for reviving portrait sculpture. Among his subjects was Romantic writer Victor Hugo, who lauded the artist as the “Michelangelo of Paris.” Much later in life, Hugo refused to sit for a portrait from Rodin, insisting that he would not be able to equal David’s bust.
Gift of B. Gerald Cantor Art Collections, M.82.126.3
Visual Description: This is a bronze sculpture of a nude, muscular man representing the ancient Greek general Philopoemen. It stands almost three feet tall on a smooth, bronze base and is dark brown in color. He stands with his legs apart, twisted to his left as he clutches his thigh, from which the head of a javelin protrudes. Philopoemen wears a plumed helmet and has a curly mustache and beard. His brow is furrowed, and he has a look of grim determination on his face.
