Head of the Old Warrior (Tête du Guerrier)
modeled ca. 1835, cast 19th century
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
Overall: 25 × 12 1/2 × 12 3/4 in. (63.5 × 31.8 × 32.4 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Bronze
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Albert Gallatin, 1926
Accession Number
26.70
Tags
Art Historical Context
François Rude's *Head of Old Warrior (Tête du Guerrier)*, modeled around 1835 and cast in bronze during the 19th century, captures the rugged intensity of an aged fighter in a strikingly lifelike bust. Standing at25 inches tall, this French sculptor's work exemplifies Romanticism's passion for emotional depth and heroic individualism, evoking the turbulent spirit of post-Napoleonic France Rude, a master of dynamic expression seen in his famous Arc de Triomphe reliefs, infuses the warrior's furrowed brow, grizzled beard, and piercing gaze with raw vitality, turning a simple portrait into a medi...