Bust

C. Lacroix, Franco-Flemish

ca. 1695–1700 · Elephant ivory · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The virtuoso Baroque carver, here signing C Lacroix fecit (under the man's left arm), was a Franco-Flemish native whose principal activity was in Genoa; he was possibly the same Lacroix, given name unrecorded, who was in Rome producing sculptures for the gardens at Versailles in 1680. Our subject has not been ascertained, but his identity may someday be unraveled through his dis tinctive pockmarked face and pugnacious profile. The two-ribbon tie was worn both in Genoa and at the court of Louis XIV. Lacroix established these details, as well as the pseudobrocade, with punctilio, but what really excited him was capturing the arrested flowing movement of wig and lace.

Artist

C. Lacroix, Franco-Flemish

Date

ca. 1695–1700

Medium

Elephant ivory

Culture

probably French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, Edward J. Gallagher Jr. Bequest, in memory of his father, Edward Joseph Gallagher, his mother, Ann Hay Gallagher, and his son, Edward Gallagher III, and The Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation Inc. Gift, 2005