The Bather

Jean Antoine Houdon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The original composition of Houdon's fountain at the Parc Monceau is believed to be preserved in this patinated terracotta sketch. It fails, however, to capture the striking impact of the lost group in which the lead figure of the black servant stood in vivid contrast to the white marble of the basin and the seated bather herself.

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