POSSIBLY BY OR AFTER GUILLAUME COUSTOU (1677-1746), FRENCH, 18TH CENTURY

This impressive and handsome figure of Mars is depicted in a relaxed, thoughtful pose. Here, Mars is the cerebral and considered warrior, rather than just plain brute force. The Dalva files record communication between François Souchal, the authority on 17th and 18th century French sculpture, and Lowei-Robertson proposing this terracotta as a preliminary model by Guillaume Coustou the Elder for his monumental figures of Mars, paired with Minerva, for Les Invalides. Indeed, the present terracotta is remarkably similar to another maquette of Mars by Coustou in a private collection and illustrated in Souchal’s monograph (Les Frères Coustou: Nicolas (1658-1733) – GUILLAUME (1677-1746) et l’évolution de la sculpture française de Dôme des Invalides aux Chevaux de Marly, Paris, 1980, pl. 44/c). The main difference between the two terracottas is that the Dalva Mars is more upright than the almost seated Mars in the private collection.