AFTER JEAN-ANTOINE HOUDON, 19TH CENTURY

This terracotta is based on a full length marble statue of François Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694 - 1778), the French author and philosopher, which was executed by Houdon (1741 - 1828) in 1781. 'What a marvel it is', Auguste Rodin said when he first saw this portrait of Voltaire. 'It is the personification of malice. See! his sidelong glance seems watching some adversary. He has the pointed nose of a fox... You can see it quiver! And the mouth - what a triumph! It is framed by two furrows of irony. It seems to murmur sarcasm.' (M. Forrest, Art Bronzes, West Chester, 1988, p. 50).