The Flood
Claude Michel, called Clodion
(French, 1738–1814)
1800
Object PlaceFrance
Medium/TechniqueTerracotta
DimensionsOverall: 54.5 x 27.9 x 22.9 cm (21 7/16 x 11 x 9 in.)
Credit LineJohn H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund
Accession number1981.398
On View
On viewClassificationsSculpture
Collections
This terracotta is Clodion's small-scale sketch for a lifesize plaster-one of his most important late works-that he exhibited at the Salon of 1801, in Paris. The sculpture depicts a father carrying his son as he struggles against the waves to find a higher elevation. Clodion intentionally selected the heroic subject matter in an attempt to secure a commission from the new consular government of France, headed by Napoléon Bonaparte. Although he earned a first-class medal for his work, the commission never materialized, and the original plaster has disappeared.
InscriptionsScéne du dèluge.Provenance1814, included in the inventory of Clodion's studio after his death [See Note 1]. June 12-13, 1911, anonymous sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, lot 65. By 1981, Peter Cecil Wilson (b.1913-d.1984), London; June 14, 1981, Peter Wilson sale, Sotheby's, Monaco, lot 38, to Alex Wengraf, Ltd., London; sold by Alex Wengraf, to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 1, 1981).NOTE:
[1] On the provenance of the sculpture, see Anne L. Poulet, “Clodion’s Sculpture of the Déluge,” Journal of the Museum of Fine Arts, 3 (1991), 51-76, here 71-72, endnote 14.
