Aan moeders graf
ca. 1803 - ca. 1868
Medium
molding
Dimensions
15; 15; 20
About this artwork
terracotta
Art Historical Context
**Aan moeders graf (At Mother's Grave)** by Louis Royer is a terracotta sculpture that captures familial sentiment in early 19th-century Dutch. Crafted around the artist's active period (ca. 1803–1868), this intimate piece measures just 20 cm high by 15 cm wide and deep, suggesting it was designed as a devotional object or mourning token—perhaps for a mantel or private altar. Royer, a prominent Dutch sculptor known for his neoclassical and emerging Romantic influences, specialized in expressive portraiture and genre scenes that evoked emotion. The title evokes a universal of grief and remembr...
About the Artist
Louis Royer · 1793–1868
Louis Royer (1793–1868), also known as Lodewyk Royer, was a Flemish sculptor who became the preeminent figure in Dutch sculpture during the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in Mechelen on June 19, 1793, Royer trained in the Flemish academic tradition before pursuing advanced studies in Paris and Rome, where he absorbed the neoclassical aesthetic that would characterize his mature work. A...