Georges-Louis-Leclerc, comte de Buffon (1707–1788)
Medium
Tinted stucco
Dimensions
Height: 23 5/8 in. (60 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Joseph F. McCrindle, 1973
Accession Number
1973.184.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant bust of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707–1788), crafted by the master sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon 1782, immortalizes one of the Enlightenment's leading naturalists. Buffon, director of the Jardin du Roi (now the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle), authored the monumental *Histoire Naturelle blending science, philosophy, and vivid prose to challenge prevailing views on nature and humanity. Houdon, a preeminent French neoclassicist, captured Buffon's dignified intellect with uncanny realism, making this a quintessential portrait from the Age of Reason. Houdon's geni...