The Triumph of Love over Time

Jean-Baptiste Lepaute

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This clock illustrates the triumph of love over time. The young god of love points to the minutes with his arrow while holding a blazing torch to the celestial globe that contains two revolving rings between its hemispheres, one with the minutes (5–10) and the other with the hours (I-XII). Chronos, or Father Time, sits dejectedly at the right. The figures, modeled by Augustin Pajou (1730–1809), were taken from a more complex design for a clock made by the royal sculptor in 1775 for the prince de Condé and were probably cast by Étienne Martincourt (active 1762–1800). The subject of the relief on the pedestal is a sacrifice to Eros. At this time, the workshop of the Lepaute family consisted of Jean-Baptiste (1727–1802), named horologer du roi in 1775; Pierre, called Henry Lepaute (1749–1806); and Pierre-Bazile, called Sully-Lepaute (1750–1843). The gilt bronze is beautifully finished and the contrast between the burnished and matte areas is particularly striking.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art