France, circa 1830-40, based on a 16th-century model Portrait of Henri II, King of France from 1547 to 1559 Marble bust on a marble pedestal H. (total): 87cm The model, formerly attributed to Jean Goujon, is the work of an anonymous sculptor from the third quarter of the 16th century (Musée du Louvre, inv. MR 1597; H. 72cm). It was only when it was transferred to the Musée des Monuments français, around 1810, that Lenoir associated it with a mantelpiece attributed to Matthieu Jacquet, from the Château de Villeroy (Mennecy, Essonne). It is likely, however, that this bust of Henri II, long thought to belong to Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, also came from Villeroy. In 1835, François-Henri Jacquet, head of the Louvre Museum's casting workshop, produced a plaster cast of the model as part of Louis-Philippe's vast program for the new Historical Galleries of the Château de Versailles, dedicated "to all the glories of France" (inv. MV 2798; H.84cm). Our rare and beautiful marble bust of Henri II certainly dates from this period.