Joseph Chinard

Joseph Chinard (Feb 12, 1756 - Jun 20, 1813) was a French sculptor who worked in a Neoclassical style that was infused with naturalism and sentiment. Joseph Chinard carved a considerable number of marble busts for members of the Bonaparte family and was known particularly for his portraits of women This bust was apparently an official portrait of Josephine Bonaparte (1763-1814), wife of Napoleon, and several versions are known including in terracotta A marble bust of Josephine by Chinard, similar to this one, was recorded as being shown at the official Salon in Paris in 1808

He received his early training in Lyon, as a painter, in the government-supported École Royale de Dessin, then worked with a local sculptor His work at Lyon drew the attention of a patron who sent him to Rome, 1784-87 He sent back to Lyon copies of antiquities In Rome he won a prize from the Accademia di San Luca, a signal honour for a non-Italian: his prize-winning sculpture, a terracotta Perseus and Andromeda remains in the collection of the Accademia

Despite several run-ins with Italian Church authorities for seemingly inappropriate and subversive French Revolutionary imagery in his sculptures, Chinard continued to travel back and forth between Lyon and Italy Although one of the most popular French Empire sculptors and one of the favorite sculptors of Emperor Napoleon's family, Chinard made only three trips to Paris He preferred living a provincial life; nevertheless, his patrons appreciated the sophisticated elegance and charm he gave to his Neoclassical portrait busts

He returned to Rome again in 1791, when his activities sometimes drew the attention of the authorities, especially given his espousal of Revolutionary ideas during the French Revolution; in 1791 he was interned in the Castel Sant'Angelo for two months, on the orders of the Pope, for an action that were viewed as subversive, the exhibition in terracotta of a model for the base of a candelabrum in which Apollo trampled underfoot Superstition On his release in December 1792, he was expelled and returned to Dijon

His marble Bust of Madame de Verninac was shown in plaster at the Salon of 1800 and in marble (illustrated) at the Salon of 1808 Chinard made only infrequent trips to Paris, dividing his time between Lyon and Italy On one occasion in Paris he produced the bust of Mme Récamier (now at the J Paul Getty Museum), which was reproduced in marble

In a biography of Joseph Chinard read to the Academy of Lyon a year after his death, a local historian reported that the sculptor's first attempts at art were confections made for the local bakers and candymakers in Lyons Whether this legend is true or not, it speaks to the qualities of intimacy, delicacy, and refinement for which Chinard's work was so admired He received his first formal training at a free, government-supported art school in Lyon and later studied in a workshop From 1784 to 1787 he worked in Rome, sending back to Lyon copies of antique works to fulfill commissions from the local bourgeoisie and nobility During this period, he won the first prize in sculpture from the Accademia di San Luca, a rare accomplishment for a foreigner

Chinard sculpted a terra cotta bust of Pierre-Pomponne-Amédée Pocholle, which was exhibited in the Exposition Universelle of 1878 at the Palais du Trocadéro, in the section of Portraits Nationaux (catalogue number 440) The town of Lyon commissioned Chinard to make the bust in appreciation for Pocholle's even-handed treatment of the town during his government service there in 1794 When Pocholle became sous-prefét of Neufchâtel-en-Bray in 1804, he took the bust with him, and then gave the bust to his sister, the widowed Mrs Delile, when he went into exile in 1816 She in turn gave the bust to Mr Mabire, who later donated it to the newly established museum of Neufchâtel-en-Bray in 1832 The Bulletin des Musées de France, 1er année, no 11, novembre 1929, includes a photograph of the bust

Much of his public sculpture in Lyon was lost during the Revolution His intimate terracotta or marble family allegories adapted conventions of funeral monuments to present realistic allegories of family affection

Interest in Chinard was revived with a retrospective of his sculpture at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, in 1909-10

Chinard's work may be seen in various museum collections, including those of the Louvre, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Washington

Josephine's dress has a low-cut bodice with anthemion (honeysuckle) ornament, echoed in her diadem; one of the most popular motifs at the time, derived from classical antiquity and used frequently in the Neoclassical and then Empire style
https://hisour.com/artist/joseph-chinard/