45 ADOLF VON
HILDEBRAND
German (born in Marburg;
active in Munich and Florence),
1847-1921
Double Portrait of the Artist's
Daughters, 1889
Polychromed terracotta
50 cm (19u/i6 in.)
86.SC.729
Hildebrand was one of the leading German sculptors of his time. Trained in
Nuremberg and Munich, he traveled to Italy in the 1860s and 1870s to study
ancient and Renaissance art; from the 1890s until his death, he divided his time
between Florence and Munich. The formation of his style was highly influenced by
such Renaissance sculptors as Andrea del Verrocchio, Desiderio da Settignano, and
Luca and Andrea della Robbia. In the Museum's Portrait of the Artist's Daughters, the
termination of the double bust in a straight horizontal line below the chests, the use
of a low oval plinth, and the choice of polychromed terracotta as the medium all recall
Italian portrait and reliquary busts of the late fifteenth century.
The Museum's sculpture depicts Hildebrand's daughters Silvia, age four, and
Bertel, age three. This touching and sensitive portrayal stands out among the more
restrained, official portrait commissions and monuments that constitute the majority
of the artist's work. Although the double-bust format is rare in the history of sculpture,
it was a popular type in late Neoclassical and Romantic paintings, where it was used
to emphasize the emotional ties between lovers, friends, or relatives. Hildebrand was
one of the few sculptors to adopt this formula for a freestanding sculpted portrait.
His intimate depiction, which captures his younger daughter in a moment of private
reverie, is a tribute to the affectionate connection between the artist and his subjects.
PAF
122 EUROPEAN SCULPTURE
