Mephistopheles

Antokolsky (1843-1902) was the foremost Russian sculptor of the late 19th century. He trained in St. Petersburg and Rome, where the model for this bust was produced, and eventually settled in Paris. He is responsible for some powerful statues of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great as well as various Romantic subjects of which this bust is characteristic. It is derived from a marble bust of 1875 formerly in the Alexander III Museum, now known as the "State Russian Museum" or the "Russian Museum", St. Petersburg.

Mephistopheles, as Satan's emissary, was a central figure in the Faust legend which, following Goethe's drama, became a popular subject in painting, literature and opera.