Charles Adrien Prosper d'Epinay

Overall the condition of the terracotta is very good. There has been restoration to the proper right hand and wrist and there may have been restoration to the toes of the proper left foot.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Prosper d'Épinay was born in Mauritius in 1836, the son of the prominent lawyer and politician, Adrien d'Épinay. In 1857 he moved to Paris to study caricature under the sculptor Jean-Pierre Dantan, and, from 1861, he worked in Rome for Luigi Amici. A British subject, he worked in London during the 1860's and 70's, and, despite eventually settling in Paris, he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy in London until as late as 1881.

The subject of the present terracotta is Marion, the heroine of Alfred de Musset's 1833 poem Rolla. The poem tells the tragic story of Rolla, a young man of promise, who, having squandered his family inheritance spends a night with a beautiful young courtesan, Marion, who entered her profession to escape from a life of misery. In an empathetic gesture that reveals her inner moral purity, Marion offers Rolla her gold necklace in order to save him from ruin. Musset's poem ends with Rolla contemplating the beauty of the sleeping girl, before finally committing suicide.

Épinay's Marion was probably inspired by Henry Gervex's painting, Rolla, which had been excluded from the Salon of 1878 on the grounds that it was 'immoral.' Épinay's composition places the viewer in the shoes of Rolla, admiring the form of the resting girl. Marion's relaxed pose and closed eyes successfully give the impression that she is in a deep slumber and is unaware that she is being watched, thereby highlighting her youthful innocence.

Épinay's composition is clearly derived from the famous Hermaphrodite, a Hellenistic sculpture by Polycles, of which the best known example is a Roman Imperial copy formerly in the Borghese collection and now in the Louvre. Épinay has breathed life into the stiff forms of the antique model; the limp hand which drops from the pillow seems relaxed and pulsating with the flow of blood through its veins. It seems likely that the Marion takes its direct inspiration from the Hermaphrodite, given that the Borghese example had been installed in the Louvre since the early nineteenth century, and, significantly, another Roman example, now in the Museo Nazionale in Rome, had been unearthed in 1880, just four years before the marble version of the Marion was exhibited at the Salon.

The present model is hand built, rather than cast and appears to be the unique original sketch for the Salon marble.The small scale of the piece, together with the warm tones of the terracotta, lends to it an air of intimacy and subtlety that is in tune with its touching and poetic subject.

RELATED LITERATURE
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 234-6