François Jouvenet, French
When You’re Looking For a Talented Sculptor, You Can’t Go Wrong With Antoine. If, That Is, You Can Deal With His Big Head, 1701
Oil on canvas
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Info, or perhaps links that point to more info, about this artist can be found in his French Wikipedia page (Google translated if necessary).
He was born 20 years after his more famous artist brother and was sometimes called Jouvenet the Younger.
/// Antoine sculpted big heads for display.
(They reflect his huge ego, some say.)
From his marriage he’d stray,
to his wife’s great dismay.
Antoine’s “little head” led him astray.
/// There’s a courtesan trained to obey.
Antoine visits her eager to pay—
not to sculpt the girl’s head—
but to get some instead.
He carves marble, but has feet of clay.
/// In the summer, when Paris streets sizzle,
Antoine waits for a brief, cooling drizzle.
He cannot stand the heat,
this marriage-vow cheat,
but he certainly knows how to chisel.
/// Antoine’s bold ”Statue of Libertine”
used her torch in a manner obscene.
Naked from the waist down,
and with no spiky crown,
she made similar statues turn green.
/// The weight of real marble would hobble
Antoine’s plan for some figures that wobble.
Painted papier-mâché
on a spring was the way
he perfected those doll heads that bobble.