Society for the Protection of Infants, 1874
Medium
Bronze, silvered, struck - double
Dimensions
Diameter: 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm)
Classification
Medals and Plaquettes
Culture
French
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Samuel P. Avery, 1893
Accession Number
93.10.66
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1874, French medallist Jules-Clément Chap created this striking silvered bronze medal for the *Society for the Protection of*, a philanthropic organization dedicated to safeguarding vulnerable children during an era when infant mortality was alarmingly high in urban France. Struck in a double-sided format—measuring just 2 11/16 inches in diameter—this intimate plaquette exemplifies the 19th-century revival of medal-making as both art and advocacy tool. Chaplain, renowned for his exquisite engravings and classical influences, captures themes of nurturing through motifs of infants, protective...
About the Artist
Jules-Clément Chaplain · 1839–1909
Jules-Clément Chaplain (1839–1909) was a French engraver and medallist who became the most celebrated practitioner of the art medal in late nineteenth-century France. Born in Mortagne-au-Perche in Normandy, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jouffroy and Oudiné and won the Prix de Rome for engraving in 1863, which enabled him to study in Italy for several years. Chaplain's work...