François Ladatte, 1706 - 1787

French private collection, at least since the 1950s.

G. Dardanello (dir.), Sculpture nel Piemonte del settecento : 'Di differente et ben intesa bizzaria', cat. exp. Turin, 2005, pp. 311-312 et p. 349 ; O. Raggio,'Two allegorical sculptures by Francesco Ladatte', dans Metropolitan Museum Journal 41, New York, 2006, pp. 121-131. 

Terracotta finely modelled of impressive size. Some minor losses and restorations at several places consistent with age and handling. The Putti's heads appear to have been reattached with the patina retouched and joints visible to the neck and shoulders, some of them have been retouched with a light yellow slip. The head of the putto in the front to the proper left may be a replacement and his proper right foot is partly missing. The heads of the female Allegorical figures also appear to have been reattached, with joints and restoration visible to the neck. The ends of the military trophies are restored, in particular the one to the proper left, as well as the tip of the obelisc. Virtue's proper right wing appears to have been restored. The crown in Putto's hand above her is missing. His proper left arm and shoulder are restored. Minor surface dirt in the crevices, several fine firing cracks visible at some places. Very rare terracotta, finely modelled.
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"The gracefulness of his compositions and the elegance of his figures have earned him the title: the Boucher of sculpture." Thus the great art connoisseur Ange-Laurent de La Live de Jully described Ladatte’s artistic achievement. Seduced by the talent of the sculptor, he owned four of works Ladatte. In the introduction of his catalogue, he expressed the contemporary enthusiasm for terracotta: "... I have assembled a terracotta model for each sculptor and these models often have more perks than the marbles because one finds much better the playing and the real talent of the Artist "(see Ph. Durey, op. Cit., P. 216). His Genius of Arts surrounded by several children who support the King’s medallion by Ladatte, listed in his Parisian townhouse in 1770, was at one time assimilated with The Triumph of Virtue Crowned by Geniuses and Surrounded by the Liberal Arts of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, signed and dated 1744 (inv. No. 6313, see below). On the death of the sculptor, his anonymous biographer stated: "In 1744 M. Ladatte returned to Turin, where his first work was The Triumph of Virtue Crowned by the Genius and Surrounded by the Liberal Arts which now exists in the property of his son in law, squire Cignaroli" (Ph. Durey, op. cit., p. 216). The group at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, acquired in 1891 near Turin, seems to be the one inherited by the painter, Vittorio Amadeo Cignaroli (1730-1800) at the death of his father-in-law. The King’s effigy described on La Live group’s medallion does not however allow us to identify our terracotta to the latter. It appears nevertheless that around 1744 Ladatte produced, between Paris and Turin, several similar compositions that could be different phases of the same project. In Turin, Ladatte was a young man under the patronage of Prince Victor Amadeus of Savoy-Carignan (1690-1741), cousin of the King of Sardinia Victor Amadeus II (1675-1728). In the wake of his protector, he arrived in Paris in 1718 where he followed the teachings of Jean-Louis Lemoyne (1665-1755), then Nicolas Coustou (1658-1733) and his brother Guillaume (1677-1746). In 1729, after winning the Academy's first prize in sculpture, Ladatte spent nearly two years in Rome, where he met Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759) and Edme Bouchardon (1698-1762). Back in Paris, Ladatte was admitted in 1736 and exhibited for the first time at the Salon in 1737. He was received at the Academy in 1741 with his marble Judith and the Head of Holofernes of the Louvre (inv. MR 2008). Among the most prominent sculptors in Paris, he received several royal commissions, and became adjunct professor of the Royal Academy in 1743. The following year Ladatte definitively left Paris for Turin at the invitation of Charles Emmanuel III. "M. La Datte ... was highly esteemed and cherished among the staff, but when he left us we always kept the hope that it was only for a limited time." in a letter addressed to the French Ambassador in Rome, Charles-Nicolas Cochin, Secretary of the Academy summarizes his regret of the sculptor’s departure (Ph.D. Durey, pp. 212).  The biographer of Ladatte describes the terracotta of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs as being the first realization of the sculptor during his arrival in Turin. He adds that "this work alone is sufficient to reveal the real genius of this famous artist" (O. Raggio, op. cit., p. 127). It has a composition very similar to ours, centered on the figure of Virtue surrounded by a cupid supporting a medallion, two others looking at a globe and two others flying over her. The liberal arts attributes of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs group have disappeared from ours, emphasizing a more solemn iconography of weapon trophies, fasces, obelisk, and medallions. These motifs commonly used for funerary monuments recall the Ladatte’s recent work in this field. The globe is represented again on which are drawn the coasts of northwestern Italy and southeastern France delimiting Piedmont, with Sardinia and Corsica off the coast. These geographical details could indicate that our terracotta was conceived as a tribute to a member of the Savoy family, perhaps to that of his first patron. It could also be a testimony of the ephemeral sets of funeral pomp and other official ceremonies at the courts of Louis XV or Savoy. It is worth noticing that Victor Amadeus of Savoy-Carignan was once the intendant of the Menus-plaisirs (ceremony planner) for Louis XV.

RELATED LITERATURE
A. de Chameaux, Portefeuille des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1891, pl. 281; S. Lami, Dictionnaire des sculpteurs del'école française au XVIIIe siècle, t. II, Paris, 1911 (rééd. 1970), p. 21; O. Raggio, 'Two allegorical sculptures by Francesco Ladatte', dans Metropolitan Museum Journal 41, New York, 2006, pp. 121-131.Ph. Durey, 'La Judith de François Ladatte', dans La Revue du Louvre, n° 3, 1982, pp. 212-218 ;