A Triton with dolphins

This terracotta panel relief, depicting a Triton between two dolphins, has been ascribed to Clodion (Claude Michel) or one of his followers. It was almost certainly sculpted in France in the late 18th century. Clodion, whose real name was Claude Michel, was a highly regarded French sculptor who lived in Rome between 1762 and 1771. There he studied Classical Roman sculpture, as well as the work of Michelangelo and Bernini. He specialised in small-scale terracottas and became a master of a style that was both intimate and dynamic, and popular in later 18th century France.