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Louis-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg

Bust
1791 (made)
Artist/Maker
Vaere, John De (maker)
Place of origin
Rome (city) (made)

The Duke of Arenberg, who was born and died in Brussels, lost his sight in a hunting accidant in 1775. He nevertheless played an active part in public life and was even considered as a possile candidate for the throne of the Netherlands. He financed the preparations for the first ascent of a gas filled balloon in 1783. Although De Vaere was of Netherlandish origin, he trained under Flaxman in Rome and worked for Wedgwood. He left England in 1810 to become Professor of Sculpture to the Royal Academy in Ghent.

This bust is recorded in the inventories of the Arenberg residence in Brussels until the First World War.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Portraits
Object type
Bust
TitleLouis-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Marble
Marble
Brief description
Bust, marble, Louis-Engelbert, Duke of Arenberg, by John de Vaere (de Vaare), English, 1791
Physical description
Bust, marble. The head of the sitter is turned towards his right. The eyeballs are blank. The right shoulder and breast are bare and the left shoulder is draped. The hair is carved crisply and naturalistically. Incised on the back.
Dimensions
  • Height: 54cm
  • Width: 44.52cm
  • Depth: 22.86cm
540 mm high (560 mm on new base), 450 mm width, 290 mm depth
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'J. DE VAERE./ROME. 1791'

    Note
    on the back

  • 'LOUIS ENGELBERT/DUC D'ARENBERG/NÉ 3 AOÛT 1750/+7 MARS 1820'

    Note
    later inscription on the back

Object history
Bought from Leopold Preston, in 1973, for £500, using funds from the Hildburgh Bequest. Mr Preston appears to have acted as agent for the owner of the bust, said to have been a descendant of the sitter; the bust was also said to have always belonged to the family.
Subject depicted
Louis Engelbert (Duke of Arenberg)
Summary
The Duke of Arenberg, who was born and died in Brussels, lost his sight in a hunting accidant in 1775. He nevertheless played an active part in public life and was even considered as a possile candidate for the throne of the Netherlands. He financed the preparations for the first ascent of a gas filled balloon in 1783. Although De Vaere was of Netherlandish origin, he trained under Flaxman in Rome and worked for Wedgwood. He left England in 1810 to become Professor of Sculpture to the Royal Academy in Ghent.

This bust is recorded in the inventories of the Arenberg residence in Brussels until the First World War.
Bibliographic references
  • Catalogue générale des peintures...achetés par le duc Lousi Englebert dans les voyages de 1789 et 1791 pour Bruxelles et Arenburg. Arenburg Archives, Edingen, Biografie 100, 36/24.
  • Gunnis, Rupert. Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1850, London, 1953, p. 128
  • Bilbey, Diane, and Trusted, Marjorie. British Sculpure 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2002, pp. 160, cat. no. 216.
  • Derez, Mark, Vanhauwaert, Soetkin, and Verbrugge Anne (eds). Arenberg. Exhibition Catalogue, Leuven/Louvain, M - Museum Leuven (Turnhout, 2018), p. 317.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.9-1973

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O311598/louis-engelbert-duke-of-arenberg-bust-vaere-john-de/
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