Gilles-Lambert Godacharle

Commissioned by Jean-Baptiste Plasschaert, 1816-1817, as a model for the stone bust in the park of Kasteel van den Heer Buggraaf de Spoelbergh (Châtelain de Wespelaer);

private collection, Belgium

This fine terracotta bust portrays the French philosopher and essayist Michel de Montaigne. He is depicted wearing a buttoned vest and an open jacket with gathered folds. His long and characteristic beard ends in fine curls, and his expression is focussed with a naturalistic frown. This well-preserved bust was made by the renowned Belgian neoclassical sculptor active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Gilles-Lambert Godecharle, as a model for the bust of Michel de Montaigne commissioned by Jean-Baptiste Plasschaert for the garden of the Château de Wespelaer, near Leuven, Belgium. The finalised and heavily weathered stone bust is now in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels (inv. no. 3496).

Towards the end of the 18th century the famous brewer Léonard Artois bought the estate of Wespelaer, located nearby Leuven. Jean-Baptiste Plasschaert married one of his daughters and started renovation projects to enhance the relatively modest castle, employing well respected architects and artists, including Godcharle who was commissioned to abundantly decorate the garden with 37 statues between 1791 and 1822. This project was one is the most important commissions he completed, which occupied him until the end of his career.

Trained in the workshop of Laurent Delvaux in Brussels and in the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture under Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris, Godcharle was heavily influenced by 18th century French sculpture, although the realism of his portraits and distinct smooth style stays true to Belgian tradition, as displayed in the present bust. Godcharle enjoyed great popularity and good reputation, having received an annual study allowance granted by the court of Charles-Alexandre of Lorraine, governor-general of the Low Countries which allowed him to join the Académie in Paris in 1772. In 1787, Godcharle received the esteemed commission to carve allegorical statues of the Old and New Testament for Saint-Jacques-sur-Coudenberg in Brussels.

RELATED LITERATURE

J. D. Draper and G. Scherf, Playing with Fire: European Terracotta Models 1740-1840, New Haven and London, p. 183, 304