Bust of Abel Francois de Vaudières, Marquis de Marigny (1727 -1781) 1767

Editor: Right now, we’re looking at Augustin Pajou’s marble bust of Abel François de Vandières, Marquis de Marigny, made in 1767. It's striking how… reserved it feels. Almost like the Marquis is trying very hard to be taken seriously. What do you make of it? Curator: Reserved, yes, and perhaps a little burdened. The weight of expectation, you know? Think about the Marquis’ role – Director of the King’s Buildings. Essentially, the arts czar of France! It’s all there in the Neoclassical restraint, the emphasis on line and form over emotion. What strikes me is the vulnerability, the fleeting sense of a real person trying to emerge from beneath the wig and the marble. See how Pajou allows a slight asymmetry to the lips? A hint of something…almost wry? Do you see it? Editor: I do now! It's like a tiny rebellion against the rigid expectations of the time. He seems almost weary, if a marble bust can convey weariness. Curator: Exactly! Marble imprisons, doesn’t it? And yet, the artist breathes life into the stone. We’re not just looking at power; we're glimpsing a human being navigating that power. Consider how Pajou handles the drapery, for example. So realistic, yet utterly stylized. Editor: So it's both a statement of power *and* a subtle, almost subversive commentary? Curator: Precisely! It's a reminder that even within the grandest pronouncements, there's always room for the personal. We all have a life behind our mask. And I wonder: what did it mean, I ask myself, what does *my* statue, if ever created, has to say to people living hundreds of years from now? It fills one with a profound sense of reflection... don't you agree? Editor: Absolutely! I'll definitely look at neoclassical art differently from now on. There is more here than meets the eye. Thanks for opening it for me!