Earth

Jean-Pierre Defrance

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lining the rusticated, arched facade of the Henry Kravis wing of the Museum are four larger-than-lifesize Allegories of the Elements, made of limestone (64.93.1–.4). Originally standing in the gardens of the Château de Mussegros near Ecouis in Normandy, the figures can be attributed on stylistic grounds to the sculptor Jean-Pierre Defrance (1694–1768) and are dated around 1750. Shown here is the allegorical figure of Earth, who holds a cornucopia in her left hand, while to her lower right a small child or putto holding a sickle in his hand offers her a freshly cut sheaf of wheat. The elegant poise of Earth and the sweeping, asymmetrical folds of her draperies are typical of garden statuary in the late Rococo style.

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