The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at Dijon, in France, 1674. Died in Paris, 1762. Aged 88.] Styled the _Æschylus_ of France. Educated by the Jesuits, and intended for the law, he produced, in 1705, his first play, “Idomeneus.” A subsequent effort, the tragedy of “Rhadamistus,” placed him at once in advance of all the tragic poets who lingered on the stage after Corneille and Racine had quitted it. Disgusted, at a later period, with Court neglect, and the decline of popularity, he withdrew from the world, and passed a life of abstinence amidst a large number of cats and dogs, whose attachment, he said, consoled him for man’s ingratitude. In 1731, elected a member of the French Academy. Towards the close of his days the sun once more smiled upon his fortunes. He received a pension through Madame Pompadour of 2,400 French livres; and the King of France caused his works to be printed at the Louvre press. As a tragic author he takes high rank. Too fond of dealing in horrors, but all his works have warmth, energy, and varied action. He was proud, independent, and alive to his own defects. [The marble bust from which this was taken was executed after a model from the life, by the celebrated sculptor, J. B. Lemoyne, in 1760. The marble was carved by J. B. Huez, in 1778, as the inscription tells us. The only notice of Huez, who has often been considered the author of the bust, is in “Les Salons” of Diderot, where he is mentioned amongst the contributors to the exhibitions of the day, and not in complimentary terms. Lemoyne was a Parisian, and died in 1778. He did many busts.]