David is often credited with the nineteenth-century revival of cast bronze portrait medals, a genre invented during the Renaissance. Owing to the larger size and single-sided compositions of David’s examples, they are usually called medallions. Over a period of roughly forty years, the sculptor used the medallic form to produce a portable pantheon of some five hundred contemporaries. This hoard of (mostly) illustrious men and women was mass-produced by Parisian foundries, pirated and hawked on the streets of many European cities, and coveted by consumers of celebrity. Casts of the portraits also exist in plaster, porcelain, and other metals such as lead. None of the medallions were commissioned, and David received no financial benefit from their reproduction. Eminently mobile artworks, they blurred the line between public monument and private objet d’art. With notable exceptions, the medallions present portraits in profile, a standard composition that stems from ancient coins. Although profile views typically evoke stillness and linearity, the high relief and expressive surfaces of David’s medallions produce complex and shifting light effects. These effects are heightened in examples such as the Alfred de Musset, where the figure is caught in a three-quarter view.
Portrait Medallions
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Victor Schnetz, 1828
Plaster cast
12 cm diameter
Collection Dr. Stephen K. and Janie Woo ScherCat. 14
French painter (1787–1870)
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Jean-Antoine-Dominique Ingres, 1826
Bronze, irregular edges
9.7 cm diameter
Collection Dr. and Mrs. Michael SchlossbergCat. 21
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François-Marius Granet, 1827
Bronze
12.8 cm diameter
Collection W. Mark Brady, New YorkCat. 22
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Cecilia Odescalchi, ca. 1828
Bronze
15.5 cm diameter
Inscribed, roma; dated, 1815; stamped on reverse, 349
Private collectionCat. 23
This idealized portrait medallion records the features of David’s first love, Cecilia Odescalchi, a young noblewoman he met while studying in Rome (1812–16). Their ill-fated relationship concluded abruptly with Cecilia’s removal to a convent, where she soon died. Although dated 1815, the portrait is adapted from a bas-relief made by the artist in 1828. Even in death, Cecilia remained David’s muse, and her likeness can be found in many of his sculptures, including the Christening Cup.
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Eugène Delacroix, 1828
Bronze
10.5 cm diameter
Foundry mark, Richard
Private collectionCat. 24
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Victor Hugo, 1828
Bronze
10.7 cm diameter
Foundry mark, Eck et Durand
Collection Frances Beatty and Allen AdlerCat. 25
French poet, novelist, and dramatist (1802–1885)
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Émile Deschamps, 1829
Bronze
12 cm diameter
Collection Carol and Herbert DiamondCat. 26
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Alexandre Dumas, 1829
Bronze
15 cm diameter
Foundry marks, Richard frères; Eck et Durand; stamped on reverse, 165
Private collectionCat. 27
French novelist (1802–1870)
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Frédéric Louis Zacharie Werner, ca. 1830s
Bronze
15 cm diameter
Private collectionCat. 28
German dramatist and poet (1768–1823)
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Théodore Géricault, 1830
Bronze
14.8 cm diameter
Stamped on reverse, three illegible nos.
Collection Wheelock Whitney IIICat. 29
French painter (1791–1824)
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Louise Swanton-Belloc, 1830
Lead or pewter
13 cm diameter
Collection Dr. Stephen K. and Janie Woo ScherCat. 30
French novelist (1796–1881)
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Alfred de Musset, 1831
Bronze
15.9 cm diameter
Collection Frances Beatty and Allen AdlerCat. 31
French poet and playwright (1810–1857)
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The Abbé de Lamennais, 1831
Bronze
Approximately 15.5 cm diameter
Private collectionCat. 32
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François Arago, 1832
Bronze
15 cm diameter
Private collectionCat. 33
French astronomer, mathematician, and politician (1786–1853)
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Caspar David Friedrich, 1834
Bronze
Approximately 17.7 cm diameter
Foundry mark, Eck et Durand; stamped on reverse, 321
Private collectionCat. 35
German painter (1774–1840)
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Niccòlo Paganini, 1834
Bronze
15.6 cm diameter
Collection Dr. and Mrs. Michael SchlossbergCat. 36
Italian musician and composer (1782–1840)
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Mélanie Waldor, 1835
Bronze
13.3 cm diameter
Collection Dr. Stephen K. and Janie Woo ScherCat. 38
French poet and novelist (1796–1871)
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Rosa Bonheur, 1854
Bronze
17 cm diameter
Private collectionCat. 46
French painter (1822–1899)