Houdon dated this bust, on the back, in 1777, three years after the Marquis de Miromesnil was appointed Minister of Justice in France. The sitter’s name was also inscribed on the bust, but it was erased during the French Revolution.
The marquis’s status is reflected by his professional attire—an outer robe with voluminous sleeves, a buttoned cassock, and a sash with a great bow—and by his magisterial wig, which Houdon left somewhat unfinished. The wig is one of many elements that contributes to the play of textures the sculptor achieved. The wig and sash, in particular, are a tour de force of carving. Conveying the thick, lifeless mass of powdered hair, the wig is a foil for the marquis’s refined countenance.
As a reviewer of the Paris Salon of 1775 remarked, “I see in the ministry of Justice the profound composure, the scrupulous and vigilant exactitude of the man to whom the laws have been entrusted, whose function is only to conserve, to maintain, or to reinforce.” Such exactitude extends to the tidiness of the minister’s outfit, with every button in place. The bust seen at the Salon was an earlier, almost identical version, which is now at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Due to a flaw in the marble and a broken nose, Houdon kept that bust for himself until the end of his life. This is the final version delivered to the marquis. A later version exists in Montpellier.
Armand-Thomas Hue, Marquis de Miromesnil
The Marquis de Miromesnil (1723–96), of Norman stock, was appointed "premier président" of the Norman parliament at Rouen in 1757. He served in that post until Louis XVI named him "Garde des Sceaux" (Minister of Justice) in 1774. During the Revolution he was briefly imprisoned. It was probably during those years that his title MARQUIS was effaced from the inscription on the back of the Frick bust: A. T. HUE...DE MIROMENIL. FAIT PAR HOUDON EN 1777. Three other versions of the portrait survive, two in marble, one in plaster, all very similar and presumably dependent on the same model, which the sculptor would have done from life.
Houdon has suggested the importance and rectitude of this supreme magistrate of French justice through the stability and solidity of his shape and clothing. The layers of stiff, heavy cloth, the ample sleeves swelling from pleated shoulders, the high, tight collar falling in straight lappets, the neatly buttoned cassock all represent the uniform of office. The head as well as the body is encased, the huge, formal wig seeming to inhibit the turn of his attention. But then in exquisite contrast, the face is all mobility and subtle nuance. As one moves around the bust, the expression changes. The sensitive lips seem about to comment with ironic wit on these encumbrances of office. The supple flesh hints at a smile. The eyes, not quite matched in shape, appear to shine, thanks to the sculptor's virtuoso wielding of the chisel.
The Frick bust of Miromesnil is dated the same year as Houdon's portrait of the Comtesse du Cayla, also in the Frick. The contrast between them illuminates the range and genius of this master of sculptural techniques, who captured with such acute understanding the special qualities of his subjects.
Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.
Madame le Bret, Château de Bretteville, Seine-Inférieure. Marquis de Flers. Henri de Courtivron. Wildenstein. C. Ledyard Blair (1919). Wildenstein. Frick, 1935.
Source: Sculpture in The Frick Collection: German, Netherlandish, French and British. Volume IV. New York: The Frick Collection, 1970.
