Model for a Proposed Monument to Commemorate the Invention of the Balloon

Clodion (Claude Michel)

ca. 1784 · Terracotta · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The first successful ascension of the hot-air balloon was achieved by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. It lasted only ten minutes but was widely celebrated. By the end of the year, the French crown floated a proposed monument. Clodion was one of seven talented sculptors to compete. His airy Rococo flight of fancy-in which putti pile bundles of hay to launch the balloon, guided by Fame and propelled by Aeolus-is difficult to imagine in marble. Gradually, hot-air ballooning spread to the point of being commonplace, and the project was dropped.

Artist

Clodion (Claude Michel)

Date

ca. 1784

Medium

Terracotta

Culture

French, Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, Rogers Fund and Anonymous Gift, 1944