Bartolini was perhaps one of the most original sculptors of the first half of the 19th century. A friend of Ingres, pupil of the painter David, Bartolini spent his youthful years in Paris and became famed for his portrait statues of Napoleon. During his later years, however, he departed from his earlier Neoclassical principles and sought a more precise representation of nature, in a style which is strongly felt in this work. Bartolini breaks up the harmony of the Classical image, allowing small distortions in the shoulders and arms. The girl