La Source
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
46.4 × 54.6 × 27.9 cm (18 1/4 × 21 1/2 × 11 in.)
Classification
statuette
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
20669
Art Historical Context
Nestled in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection of European painting and sculpture, *La Source* (The Source), created by French sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse in 1864, captivates with its intimate scale and tactile warmth. This terracotta statuette, measuring 46.4 × 54.6 × 27.9 cm, embodies the mid-19th-century fascination with mythological and natural themes, evoking a serene water nymph or spring goddess— a motif rooted in classical antiquity yet refreshed through Romantic sensibilities. Carrier-Belleuse, a master of decorative sculpture during France's Second Empire, blended ...
About the Artist
Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse · 1824–1887
Comment on works: sculptor