BOUCHARDON, Edme
(b. 1698, Chaumont, d. 1762, Paris)

Cupid Making a Bow out of the Club of Hercules

1750
Marble, height 173 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Bouchardon, during his nine years in Rome, paid much closer attention to the statues of antiquity than to Baroque ones. Recalled to Paris in 1732, he protested unceasingly, both in words and by example, against the baroquism of the sculpture of his period, and produced works which harked back to those of Girardon yet appear Classical before their time.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 4 minutes):
Francesco Gasparini: The Meddlesome Cupid, aria