# Bust of Réaumur [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [LEMOYNE, Jean-Baptiste II]() - Date: 1701-1750 - Technique: Terracotta, height 24 cm ## Commentary It is the play of features which makes the terracotta bust of Reaumur outstanding even among Lemoyne's varied, mimetic achievements. The expression is seized in a positive rictus, the lower half of the face bitten deep into by a trench of wrinkle running down either side of the nose, while the eyes are wide-open and staring. All has been caught as if by flashlight photography, but the vitality persists from whatever angle the bust is studied. Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur \(1683-1757\) was a physicist. He carried out research in metallurgy and glass-making, and produced a major work on entomology. His thermometer \(with spirit instead of mercury\) has 80 degrees between the freezing-point and boiling-point. ## Related artworks - [Bust of Arnaud de la Briffe]() - [Bust of Mademoiselle Clairon]() - [Bust of Maupeou]() - [Bust of Montesquieu]() - [Comte de la Tour d'Auvergne]() - [Louis XV \(detail\)]() - [Louis XV]() - [Louis XV]() - [Mademoiselle Dangeville as Thalia]() - [Monument to Mignard]() - [The Baptism of Christ]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()