31 JACQUES-FRANgOIS-
JOSEPH SALY
French (born in Valenciennes;
active in Rome, Paris, and
Copenhagen), 1717-1776
Faun Holding a Goat, 1751
Marble
84.1 cm (33^sin.)
Inscribed, erroneously, on the base:
NL. COUSTOUFECIT 1715
85.SA.50
This marble depicts a lithe nude male posed in classical contrapposto, leaning on a tree
stump and holding a small goat. The figure can be identified as a faun (a mythological
creature of the woods) by means of the small tail above his buttocks, the inclusion of a
goat to reflect his own goatlike features, and the display of musical instruments often
associated with fauns and satyrs. The sculptor, Saly, spent the years 1740 to 1748 as a
student at the Academie Francaise in Rome. His numerous studies and copies after the
antique are evident in his composition for the Faun Holding a Goat, which is based on
at least two famous ancient statues: the Faun with a Kid, now in the Museo Nacional
del Prado in Madrid, and the Satyr with Grapes and a Goat, now in the Museo
Capitolino in Rome.
Saly executed the terracotta model for this marble statuette when he was still in
Rome. Shortly after his return to Paris, he submitted a plaster version to the Academie
Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as part of his application for membership. If the
morceau de reception, or reception piece, was approved by the Academie, its execution
in marble was commissioned. The resulting sculpture, if accepted, entitled the artist to
full membership. Saly's Faun Holding a Goat was accepted, and he was unanimously
voted a member of the Academie in 1751. Like other reception pieces—which were
essential for the advancement of an artist's career—Saly's Faun is one of his most
exquisitely carved and carefully finished works. With the exhibition of the marble in
the Paris Salon of 1751, Saly achieved instant recognition and was thereafter patronized
by Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, and Christian VII of Denmark. PAF90 EUROPEAN SCULPTURE