Like many other French sculptors of genius, Houdon won the Grand Prix at the outset of his career and directly after visited Italy. While there he modelled the well-known “St. Bruno,” of which Clement XIII. said “he would speak were it not that the rules of his order enjoin silence.” A little later came the celebrated “Diana,” perhaps the most remarkable work by an eighteenth-century French sculptor in view of the originality of its design and the skill with which the technical difficulties incidental to such a pose are overcome. There are various replicas of the “Diana.” The Hermitage copy is in marble, and dates from 1780. The Louvre bronze was cast in 1790. Houdon’s “Voltaire” is equally famous. This, too, exists in more than one state. There is the seated figure belonging to the Comédie Française—recently moved to the Louvre—as well as the bust which we have preferred to reproduce. The latter represents the old cynic during the last weeks of his life. It is a magnificent instance of Houdon’s unrivalled power in the expression of mental vivacity. It is said that the sculptor had complained to a friend, the Marquis de Villevieille, that the old wit’s face had lost every vestige of life. Villevieille realizing that Houdon’s sitting might well result in failure, bethought himself of the crown which Brizard, the actor, had placed on Voltaire’s head during his triumph at the Français. The next day while Houdon was working before his model, Villevieille suddenly placed the crown on the old man’s head. For a moment the ancient fire returned. It was only for a moment. Bursting into tears, Voltaire cried: “What are you doing, young man?” Then he added bitterly: “My tomb is already prepared; put it on that.” [Illustration: HOUDON VOLTAIRE] Fortunately the momentary impression was sufficient. Houdon was able to fix for all time the insight which chance had given him into the secret of the man who, perhaps, did more to prepare the way for the French Revolution than any other thinker. Houdon’s “Voltaire” appropriately closes the history of the sculpture of the French Court. Equally appropriately it ushers in the history of European sculpture during the Revolutionary era. CHAPTER XIII THE NEO-CLASSICAL REVIVAL: EUROPEAN SCULPTURE OF THE REVOLUTION AND THE REACTION (1789-1848 A.D.) The period we are now to consider, covering the last few years of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth, is one of the most elusive in the history of sculpture. That is to say, it evades characterization. Moreover, when its individual qualities are stated, it is still more difficult to correlate these with the very definite ideas and emotions astir during a time which includes the French Revolution and the consequent Reaction.