Jean de la Fontaine

Jean de la Fontaine (1621 - 1695) was a French poet and fabulist. The bronze, miniature bust shows him in his old age, wearing a wig. He has a long face, a long aquiline nose, and slightly curved lips. A loose coat is draped over his shoulders, and a scarf is tied around his neck. He has a sash over the left shoulder. The bust is placed on a support consisting of a gilded bronze pedestal, a cylindrical marble shaft (missing a metal chain), and a gilded bronze base. The author of the bust is not known. It was most likely created by a French sculptor. The sculpture was created at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. It adorns the mantel in the bedroom of the State Apartment, together with a second miniature bronze bust depicting Jean Baptiste Racine on an identical stand (inventory number S. 11738 MŁ).