| 1783 Marble Mus?e du Louvre, Paris Julien seems never to have executed any portrait busts or monumental groups. Even in the La Fontaine he scarcely attempted to produce accurate portraiture but concentrated on a lively, perhaps suitably anecdotal, effect, with a generalized shrewdness and vivacity in the subject's features. Julien's delicacy of handling is apparent not only in the somewhat over-detailed treatment of the hair but also in the frieze of bas-reliefs, illustrating scenes from the fables, which decorate the pedestal. The fables are yet more patently present in the slightly porcine fox, with one paw on a book, which creeps out from La Fontaine's cloak and peers up at him. Author: JULIEN, Pierre Title: La Fontaine Form: sculpture , 1751-1800 , French , portrait |
