CAST BY PROPRIETE CARPEAUX, FROM A MODEL BY JEAN-BAPTISTE CARPEAUX, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

In 1865, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was commissioned to model one of four monumental reliefs for the façade of the Paris Opéra. The allegorical group, depicting the Spirit or Genius of Dance surrounded by Dancing Bacchantes and a putto, was completed four years later. The completed monument cost Carpeaux almost three times his payment. Consequently, in an attempt to recoup a portion of his extra expenses, he started marketing various reductions in bronze, terracotta and marble of segments of the completed group, the present example being one of the more popular.