Astronomy and Geography

This decorative group is one of the four groups of children symbolizing the arts, which were commissioned by the Abb� Terray, probably during the abb�’s brief period as Directeur des Bâtiments. Each group was by a different sculptor, though the resulting pieces are homogeneous in style and indeed represent the culmination of sculpture in a private setting, yet not on a miniature scale, playful, graceful, and decorative. Clodion contributed the Music and Poetry (Washington, National Gallery of Art), Jean-Jacques Caffi�ri the Geometry and Architecture, Jean-Pierre-Antoine Tassaert the Painting and Sculpture (Washington, National Gallery of Art).