Modeled 1828; cast in the second half the nineteenth century

Victor Hugo

Pierre Jean David d'Angers

French, 1788 - 1856

Victor Hugo (1802–1885), best known for novels such as Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, referred to David d’Angers as the "Michelangelo of Paris" and later refused to sit for a portrait bust by Auguste Rodin, claiming that no likeness could equal David’s. The pair met in 1827, with David modeling this medal in the following year. His dynamic rendering of the writer’s hair conveys a sense of active thought and imagination. Hugo mentioned David in multiple works, notably the poetic ode "Au Statuaire David," which rhapsodizes on the sculptor’s greatness, comparing him to the artists of the Renaissance. For Hugo, David’s work became the focus for extended thinking on the problem of paragone, or the roles and relationships of different artistic media. This medal might be understood as embodying a characteristically Romantic interest in dialogues between visual and literary art.