21 MICHEL ANGUIER
French (active in Rome
and Paris), 1612-1686
Jupiter, probably cast toward
the end of the seventeenth
century from a model of 1652
Bronze
61 cm (24 in.)
94.SB.21
By the seventeenth century, two distinct iconographic traditions based on ancient
precedents had been established for the depiction of the Roman god Jupiter. The first
depicted the deity seated and enthroned as the supreme ruler of Olympus. The second,
called in French Jupiter tonnantoi foudroyant (thundering Jupiter), portrayed him
standing as the god of Justice, presiding over the earth and meting out punishment
with his fatal thunderbolts. Anguier's bronze statuette, which shows Jupiter stepping
forward and raising a cluster of flaming thunderbolts in his right hand, clearly belongs
to the second type of representation. Nevertheless, Jupiter's classical contrapposto
stance and venerable countenance lend the image a sense of calm stability rather than
one of violent or momentary action. The god's minutely defined, solid musculature and
soft, clinging drapery enhance the impression of self-assured elegance that permeates
the composition.
Anguier was one of the earliest proponents of a classicizing Baroque style in French
sculpture of the seventeenth century. Around 1641 Anguier went to Rome, where he
lived for the next ten years, joining the workshop of one of the city's leading sculptors,
Alessandro Algardi. While in Italy, Anguier devoted himself to the study of ancient
art and literature. In fact, the pose and physiognomy of the Museum's Jupiterwere
inspired by an antique marble that Anguier would have seen in the Palazzo Giustiniani
in Rome. In 1652, shortly after his return to Paris, Anguier modeled a series of seven
figures representing gods and goddesses according to their temperaments: thundering
Jupiter, jealous Juno, agitated Neptune, tranquil Amphitrite, melancholy Pluto,
Mars abandoning his weapons, and distraught Ceres. Although there are several
bronze examples in existence for five of the deities, the Museum's statuette is the
only known cast of Anguier's Jupiter. It exhibits features typical of the sculptor's
male figures, including highly articulated musculature; wavy clumps of hair;
protruding veins in the arms and feet; and a prominent, aquiline nose. PAF
EUROPEAN SCULPTURE 67
