Ludwig Tieck

David made several international trips in order to meet and render homage to illustrious men and women. In 1834, during his second sojourn in Germany, he modeled a colossal portrait head of the poet and translator Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853). He also produced this depiction of the seated writer. David enjoyed conversing with his famous sitters, and Tieck is captured in the midst of a lively discussion. The intimate scale of the bronze and Tieck’s informal pose and contemporary costume combine to produce a thoroughly Romantic and modern “monument.” The only work David designed specifically as a statuette, it was cast in a very small bronze edition of three or four examples.