Girl with a Shell

myminifactory

Facing the half-timbered house of the Tourist Office, a beautiful young woman sits on a wicker basket. Known as "The Girl with the Shell," she exudes natural charm and radiates warmth from her luminous smile. The sculptor, a resident artist at the Villa Medici, had previously gained recognition for his second major work: "The Fisherman with the Shell." This piece met with great acclaim and was purchased by Emperor Napoleon III. In creating this sculpture, he paid tribute to his professor François Rude's "Fisherman Neapolitan." Two years later, in a letter to a friend, Carpeaux wrote: "I am the mirror image of my 'Fisherman in the Shell,' a young girl sitting by the sea, sewing a shell onto her head." In these two works, the artist is not unaware of the symbolic meaning behind the shell - an attribute of Venus and a representation of sensual love. The plaster version will be showcased at the 1864 Salon, while the marble piece will be acquired by Empress Eugénie in 1867. A patinated plaster model, dated 1867 and signed by Carpeaux, is now housed in the city museum. Additionally, a sketch in terracotta still depicts the young girl with her hands on her head. Previous works such as the sculpted composition of the Louvre's "antique crouched Venus" and his portrait of Anna Foucart, daughter of his friend and patron Jean-Baptiste Foucart, served as inspiration for Carpeaux in creating this masterpiece.