represented a partdraped female figure whose “dress” was considered indecent as it achieved little
more than drawing attention to the nudity and sexual vulnerability of much of her body. Pierre, then
Director of the Academy, wrote to d’Angiviller to express his concerns about the suitability of this piece
for public exhibition and it was subsequently banished from the Salon:
Two small, halfsize figures by M.Houdon were brought in: one, which is draped [ Summer], is not
wonderful, the other might not pass because of the kind of nudity it displays. A completely nude figure
is less indecent than those draped with false modesty ... let me observe, however, that this figure is the
better of the two and that it will be hidden away in a corner.
(cited in Poulet, 2003, 225–229)