Getty Museum

Bust of Winter

Date

about 1700

Medium

Marble

Culture

German

Department

Sculpture

Institution

Getty Museum

Shrouded in a heavy hooded cloak, an elderly man looks down with a deeply furrowed brow. As a personification of winter, the bust gives visual expression to the chilling cold of that season. His old age refers to winter's occurrence at the very end of the calendar year. Paul Heermann used delicate drillwork to create the border and ruffle on the cloak and the undercut locks of his long beard. The shadows made by his protruding forehead and the folds of his hood contrast dramatically with the luminous white of the marble, heightening the figure's psychological force and presence. This bust was probably part of a series of sculptures personifying the four seasons. At Versailles, Charles Le Brun established the fashion of including statues of the seasons in the program for garden sculpture. The high level of finish and finely worked details of this bust, however, suggest that *Winter* was meant to be viewed up close, in an indoor setting.

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