Pierre-Jean David d'Angers
French, 1788–1856
Philopoemen
1837
In 1832 David received a commission from the French government for a statue of Philopoemen of Megalopolis, general of the Achaeans. The sculpture depicts an episode in which the hero pulled a javelin from his leg and, though wounded, fought on to win the Battle of Sellasia. Though Philopoemen was about thirty years old at the time, David portrayed him as an older man to emphasize both the soldier’s symbolic role as the last great Greek champion and the demise of the Hellenic civilization.
| Medium | bronze |
| Dimensions | 25 3/4 x 11 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (65.4 x 29.2 x 26.7 cm) |
| Object Number | 1993.24 |
| Acquisition | Acquired by the Clark, 1993 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Pierre-Jean David d'Angers, Philopoemen, 1837, bronze. Clark Art Institute, Acquired by the Clark, 1993.24
Select Bibliography
Lovett, Jennifer Gordon. The Art and Craft of Nineteenth-Century Sculpture. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1994.
Mainardi, Particia. The Persistence of Classicism. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1995.
Kern, Steven, et al. The Clark: Selections from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1996.
