Psyche Abandoned

In 1783, the French neo-classical sculptor Augustin Pajou was commissioned by the Bâtiments du Roi to execute a sculpture for the entrance to the Salle des Antiques, to serve as a pendant piece to Edme Bouchardon’s (1698-1762) <i>Cupid Carving a Bow from Hercules’ Club.</i>  The plaster model of the figure of the seated nymph Psyche, depicted as having just been abandoned by Cupid, created a scandal at the Salon of 1785 due to the nudity of the figure, which was considered to be licentious.  The work was withdrawn from the exhibition, although Pajou completed the life size marble in 1790 to great critical acclaim.  Due to the popularity of the sculpture, Pajou subsequently modeled two terra-cotta statuettes based upon it, as well as bronze reductions.  The high quality of the workmanship on this version suggests the hand of Pierre-Philippe Thomire, one of the foremost French bronze casters of the late eighteenth century. Pajou was held in high regard by his contemporaries.  He was professor of the Académie Royal de Peinture et Sculpture, curator of the royal collection of modern sculptures, member of the committee charged with planning the future of  the Louvre as a museum, and official portraitist to the king.