Claude Michel, called Clodion

Claude Michel, known as Clodion, was a celebrated French sculptor of the 18th century renowned for his exuberant terracotta statuettes depicting nymphs, satyrs, and bacchanalian revelers. Born in Nancy in 1738, he trained under his uncle Lambert-Sigisbert Adam and later studied at the French Academy in Rome, where he spent over a decade absorbing classical and Baroque influences. His sensuous, vivacious small-scale works became highly fashionable among aristocratic collectors of the Ancien Régime, and he later adapted his style to meet the demands of Neoclassicism following the French Revolution.