Louis XV as Apollo

This bust representing Louis XV as Apollo was formerly ascribed to the sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam (1700-1759) and believed to date from 1741. However the thermoluminescence test made in 1972 found this bust to date from around 1865. It is now generally accepted to be a forgery. Imitation of French 18th century sculpture, made in the middle of the 19th century and later, are faily numerous and other cases are known in which a 19th century imitator has used an 18th century engraving of a sculpture as a model.