Male Portrait Bust

Male Portrait Bust , 1700s

Where object was made: France or Italy

Material/technique: marble

Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 87.3 x 63.1 x 39.4 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 34 3/8 x 24 13/16 x 15 1/2 in

Credit line: Museum purchase

Accession number: 1950.0066

Not on display

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Debut

During the 17th and 18th centuries, luxuriant powdered wigs, called perukes, were popular among the European upper classes. This fashion was partially influenced by syphilis. By 1580, the sexually transmitted disease had become a major epidemic across Europe. Without antibiotics, victims faced the full brunt of the disease: open sores, nasty rashes, blindness, dementia, and patchy hair loss. Because baldness could greatly diminish one’s social standing, chic powdered hairpieces with locks of curls became one way to mask disease and signify high status.

Debut

Archive Label date unknown:
The attribution of this portrait bust has been debated for many years; it has been variously regarded as French or Italian. The most recent suggestion links this sculpture to Edme Bouchardon, a French artist that worked in Rome. Although the subject remains anoynymous, the coiffure and dramatic drapery resemble Bouchardon's early rococo busts dating from the 1730s or 1740s.