Jean-Baptiste Clésinger
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Jean-Baptiste Clésinger (1814-1883) was a French sculptor who caused a sensation at the 1847 Paris Salon with his marble Woman Bitten by a Snake, a reclining nude of startling realism. Born in Besançon, son of a sculptor, he studied in Rome and Paris. The Salon piece (modeled from a body cast of his lover, Apollonie Sabatier) was praised for its lifelike flesh and condemned for bypassing genuine sculptural skill.
Clésinger married George Sand's daughter Solange, linking him to Parisian literary circles, though the marriage ended badly. He produced portrait busts, equestrian monuments, and Orientalist subjects throughout a prolific career, but never quite recaptured the scandal and celebrity of his debut.
Sculptures by Jean-Baptiste Clésinger
2 sculptures catalogued with museum locations. Browse all sculptures
Museums with Jean-Baptiste Clésinger's Work
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About Jean-Baptiste Clésinger
Woman Bitten by a Snake (1847) at the Musée d'Orsay caused a scandal at the Paris Salon. The writhing marble nude was cast directly from a living model, blurring the line between sculpture and life casting.
The Woman Bitten by a Snake is at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Other works are at the Louvre and in various French provincial museums.
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