Portrait of Christoph Willibald Gluck
c. 1775
Jean-Antoine Houdon
Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741–1828)
European Painting and Sculpture
Portrait of Christoph Willibald Gluck, c. 1775. Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741–1828). Terracotta; overall: 49.5 x 40 x 28.5 cm (19 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.); with base: 64 x 39.3 x 28.1 cm (25 3/16 x 15 1/2 x 11 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1988.59 A well-known composer of the 1700s, Gluck reformed opera by bringing unprecedented simplicity and sincerity to his music and staging, qualities shared by Houdon’s bust. This portrait, by depicting Gluck’s pockmarked face, was perceived as a natural and truthful representation. Yet, he would never have appeared publicly with unkempt hair and an open collar, which constituted the standard for representing an artist.
- Maker/Artist
- Houdon, Jean-Antoine
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Formatted Medium
- terracotta
- Medium
- terracotta
- Dimensions
- Overall: 49.5 x 40 x 28.5 cm (19 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.); with base: 64 x 39.3 x 28.1 cm (25 3/16 x 15 1/2 x 11 1/16 in.)
- Inscribed
- Inscription: inscribed in plaster fill in back at bottom: Houdon FT 177[4?]. Since this inscription was clearly added after the terracotta was fired, it cannot be considered a signature.
- Departments
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Accession Number
- 1988.59
- Credit Line
- Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Rights Statement
- CC0
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