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museum of decorative Arts and Design

musée des Arts décoratifs
et du Design de Bordeaux
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39 rue Bouffard,
33000 Bordeaux

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The Montesquieu bust, De l’esprit des lois, 1748<br/> &copy;  madd Bordeaux - L. Gauthier
The Montesquieu bust, De l’esprit des lois, 1748
© madd Bordeaux - L. Gauthier
object n°06

The Montesquieu bust

1767

The object of the month of October is the famous sculpture representing Charles-Louis de Secondat baron de la Brède and Montesquieu by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, sculptor to the king, dated 1767. Commissioned after the death of the author of De l'esprit des lois (1748) by the Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Bordeaux, the sculpture was part of a prosperous period for the city, enriched by both trade and the intellectual exchanges of the Enlightenment. Montesquieu was a member and then director of the Academy, and his death was followed by a veritable cult on the part of the academics and the city. Hence the creation, until the 20th century, of effigies of the great man, all made from this marble, in plaster or porcelain, intended to adorn the various cultural sites of the city.

This presentation takes place at a time when the Académie des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Bordeaux is celebrating its tercentenary on 3, 4 and 5 October 2012 and is publishing Un passé qui éclaire l'avenir, 1712-2012, Bordeaux, 2012

object n°06 (pdf)

previous objects of the month

object n°35
Gift of Edouard Evrard de Fayolle, 1911 - Inv 4759 & Inv 4760
object n°34
Gift in memory of Léon Gaspart, 1997 - Inv 97.2.7
object n°33
Bequest from Pierre de Giouetti, 1985 - Inv 85.2.8
object n°32
Deposit of Professor Robert Coustet, 2009 - D 2009.4.26
object n°31
Bequest from Georges Périé, 1945 - Inv 78 23
object n°30
Deposit of Professor Robert Coustet, 2014 - D 2014.1.15
object n°29
Bequest of Pierre-Eymeric de Pelleport-Burète , 1932 - Inv 11271
object n°28
Gift of the Cappellini Company, 2013
object n°27
Bequest from Raymond Jeanvrot, 1966 - Inv 66.1.312
object n°26
Purchase from the City of Bordeaux, 1958 - Inv 58.1.10640
object n°25
Gift of the Countess of Marcellus, 1955 - Inv 55.4.1 to 55.4.9
object n°24
Purchase by the City of Bordeaux, 1974 - Inv 74.3.3 / Gift of Edouard Bonie, 1894 - Inv 73.1.88 / Purchase by the City of Bordeaux, 1993 - Inv 93.3.4 / Gift of the Association of Friends of the Hôtel de Lalande, 1992 - Inv 92.2.6
object n°23
Purchase from the City of Bordeaux, 1958 - Inv 58.1.6210
object n°21
Bequest from Daniel Astruc, 1953 - Inv 53.9.14
object n°20
Purchase from the City of Bordeaux, 1963 - Inv 63.8.1 and 63.8.2
object n°19
Old funds of the City of Bordeaux - Inv 75 54
object n°18
Private collection
object n°17
Gift Edition Danese, 1988 - Inv 2013.0.23