Portrait of Mlle. Heuzey 1889

Jules-Clément Chaplain created this bronze portrait medal of Mlle. Marthe Heuzey in France during the late 19th century. Medals like this one reflect shifting social currents in France at the time. The French Third Republic sought to move away from inherited privilege. Excellence and achievement were now to be recognized through institutions like the state-sponsored Salons. The medal, as a portable and reproducible image, democratized portraiture. It took likenesses out of the exclusive realm of painting and sculpture, circulating them among a wider public. Chaplain was one of the most celebrated medalists of his day. He served as president of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. His work offers a fascinating insight into the aesthetic values of the French establishment. To understand it better, we might look at exhibition reviews, archival records of the Académie, and even the writings of social critics. That's how we can reconstruct the complex world in which this portrait took shape.