The Artist's Children
Medium
Bronze, silvered (cliché), cast - single
Dimensions
Diameter: 4 11/16 in. (11.9 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
93.10.73
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate bronze medal *The Artist's Children* (1886), French sculptor and engraver Jules-Clément Chap captures tender profiles of his own young boys and girls, rendered with exquisite detail on a silvered surface. Measuring just 4 11/16 inches in diameter, this single-cast cliché exemplifies the refined artistry of 19th-centuryquettes—small, collectible reliefs prized for their portability and personal expression. Chaplain, a master of medal-making who earned accolades at Paris Salons and Expositions Universelles, infuses the work with classical poise, evoking Renaissance portrait medal...
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...