Grégoire Calvet, The Soul Of Antiquity (1899)

GRÉGOIRE CALVET (1871 Cadarcet - Palaiseau 1928)
L'Ame antique
Plaster
65 × 43 × 29 cm
Signed on the left side: Grégoire Calvet
Titled on the front: AME ANTIQUE
Dedication on the back: To Monsieur Paul Stuart / friendly souvenir / of the Acropolis of Athens
Small accidents, some losses, a broken hand

Diverting phantasmagoria by Grégoire Calvet with a giant spiritual woman clad in a long robe standing, almost hovering, on the mount of the Acropolis The back bears a dedication by the sculptor to a certain Paul Stuart: A monsieur Paul Stuart / friendly souvenir / From the Acropolis of Athens. Paul Stuart (1861-1914), his real name Paul Aimé Stuardi, of Lyonnais origin, was a singer, poet, stage director, and general manager of the Paris Opera. With this dedication it seems to me that there is perhaps a link between Calvet's vision and an opera set of the period. A plaster model of L'Ame antique, perhaps this one, was exhibited at the Salon of 1899, and there was an edition in bronze.