Summer (one of a set of four) 1730 - 1765

This is Edme Bouchardon’s marble relief, “Summer,” part of a set of four made in the mid-18th century. It’s a wonderfully tactile piece. Imagine Bouchardon, a master sculptor, carefully selecting a block of fine-grained marble. The process would begin with drawing, then the skilled and very physical work of carving. With chisels, rasps and files, he would have gradually coaxed these forms out of the stone. Look at the robust figures of the children, the feathery heads of wheat, and the subtle gradations of depth. The way the artist has handled the stone gives the scene a feeling of warmth and abundance. Consider the social context: marble was the material of luxury, the stone of emperors and gods. Bouchardon was in the service of Louis XV, and though this piece is small in scale, it evokes an ideal of courtly life, far removed from the realities of agricultural labor. The artist transforms the hard, cold stone into something that feels almost alive. That is the magic of sculpture.