Offering to Priapus

From the Getty Museum record

A woman dressed as a priestess leads a young girl, covering herself with a swath of cloth, toward a statue of Priapus, the ancient god of fertility. With distinctive goatlike ears, Priapus appears in the form of a term, a statue marking a territorial boundary. The smoking incense and the sacrificial tripod indicate that the young girl is making an offering of her charms. Cupid winds a floral garland around the statue of Priapus, camouflaging his characteristic erect phallus. Sculptor Claude Michel, called Clodion, frequently drew from ancient mythology for his terracottas, but his borrowings rarely focused on grand events. For Clodion, ancient culture provided a classical figure style, a repertory of characters and settings, and perhaps most importantly, a nostalgic mood. As was typical of the Rococo style, his works tended to be playful and erotic. Although Clodion finished the piece in the round, he designed it to be seen from the front, placed on a piece of furniture or on a mantelpiece. Known for his masterful handling of wet clay, the artist focused on texture, differentiating clingy or billowing drapery from satin-textured skin.