Hello, I am looking for someone to write an article on The Seated Voltaire by Houdon. It needs to be at least 2000 words. To begin with, Houdon is a well-known name in the art of bust creation. According to sources, the bare-headed bust of Voltaire which has come down generations as the most common representation of the philosopher was created by Houdon and personally approved by Voltaire. As a representative of Neoclassicism, the sculpture is a great example of the sculptor’s observational quality. It is also representative of the Republican thinking that ruled French society in the eighteenth century. As a result of masterpieces like this one, Houdon received recognition and admiration from Americans and was later granted citizenship of virtue by America. Since the story begins with Voltaire and the busts that Houdon created for him, it would be worthwhile to note that creation of the busts was considered to be the first or initial step to the creation of the Voltaire seated sculpture. However, this assumption was wrong since the sculpture was ordered long after the busts were created and approved and exhibitions of paintings and sketches on Voltaire were released by the artist.

As in all of Houdon’s works, a great emphasis is laid on details of the human being’s features in the sculpture. As a result, the only material that helped the sculptor create the exact details was plaster. In all his sculptures, Houdon has used plaster as the sculpting material and this is no different. However, there are two different versions of the original plaster sculpture, which were made totally of marble and were bought by different elite families, one of them being that of Voltaire himself. The sculpture created using plaster has a terra cotta cast added after the original plaster and finished by Houdon. The sculpture can be found in the Montpellier museum. Metal supports are provided to the sculpture and the entire sculpture is placed on a wooden base.

The most emphatic figurine that arrives from the Neoclassical era and is considered equivalent to Houdon’s work is the creation of Pigalle.&nbsp.&nbsp.