Angel with a dead child thumbnail 1

Angel with a dead child

Statuette
ca. 1878 (cast)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Dalou (1838-1902) was the son of a glove maker and initially trained in drawing at the Petit École in Paris. There he was encouraged to do sculpture. In 1854 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years. He was known for his left-wing political sympathies and was involved in the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1871. After his overthrow he was forced into exile in London, where he lived from 1871 until his return to Paris in 1879. In London he frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was given a teaching appointment at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), where he had a profound effect on the development of British sculpture.

Dalou was based in Paris but spent the years of 1871–9 in London, where his teaching inspired a whole generation of students. Much of his London work concentrated on scenes of quiet domesticity, translated here into the tenderness with which the angel holds the dead child.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAngel with a dead child (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze cast in lost wax technique
Brief description
Statuette, bronze, Angel with a dead child, by Aimé-Jules Dalou, Anglo-French, ca. 1878
Physical description
Signed and stamped.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 5.080kg
  • Height: 31cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Dalou' (below the Angel's right foot)
  • 'A.-A. Hébrard' (stamped below a fold in the drapery near the left foot)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Mr H. L. Florence
Object history
Bequeathed by Mr H. L. Florence, presumably Lt. Col. Henry Louis Florence, in 1917. Transferred to the Bethnal Green Museum in 1969, and returned to the V&A in 1983.
Subjects depicted
Summary
Dalou (1838-1902) was the son of a glove maker and initially trained in drawing at the Petit École in Paris. There he was encouraged to do sculpture. In 1854 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he trained for four years. He was known for his left-wing political sympathies and was involved in the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1871. After his overthrow he was forced into exile in London, where he lived from 1871 until his return to Paris in 1879. In London he frequently exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was given a teaching appointment at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (later the Royal College of Art), where he had a profound effect on the development of British sculpture.

Dalou was based in Paris but spent the years of 1871–9 in London, where his teaching inspired a whole generation of students. Much of his London work concentrated on scenes of quiet domesticity, translated here into the tenderness with which the angel holds the dead child.
Bibliographic references
  • Bilbey, Diane and Trusted Marjorie. British Sculpture 1470 to 2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2002, p. 248, cat. no. 376
  • Caillaux, H., Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902), Paris, 1935, p. 130
  • Tomory, P.A., Sculpture in France : Rodin ... [et al.] , Auckland : Auckland City Art Gallery, 1963 no.12
Collection
Accession number
A.29-1917

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Record createdApril 18, 2005
Record URL
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