Houdon was commissioned by the Comédie-Française to make the marble bus portrait of Moliere in 1776. It was unveiled at the theatre in 1779. Houdon, who attached great importance to faithfully rendering the subject's facial features, had to rely on a painted portrait of Moliere who had been dead for one hundred years. Since he was unable to base his work on Pierre Mignard’s famous portrait of Moliere, which was then in a private collection, he had to make use of a far from perfect copy. Houdon therefore decided not to attempt a faithful rendition of the playwright but opted to create an "ideal picture" and to show Moliere more as a symbol of French theatre than an individual person. Generally, the completed marble bust was enthusiastically received by critics. The critics emphasized Houdon’s free approach to the subject who is depicted wearing everyday dress, bareheaded with his hair loose hair and bareheaded. They also commented on the modelling of the facial features. Houdon's characteristic detailed rendition of the eyes gave the impression that Moliere's eyes ‘pierced the heart' of the viewers. Replicas of the portrait bust of Moliere made of terracotta or plaster which had been patinated to make them look like terracotta, can be found in the collections of Princeton University (Firestone Library), Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, Musée des beaux-arts in Orleans, Staatliche Museum in Szwerin, Schlossmuseums Gotha, and the Comédie-Française in Paris. The bust, probably brought from Paris in 1784, enriched King Stanisław August's sculpture collection at the Royal Castle in Warsaw; it was exhibited in the Royal Library. From 1817 it was the property of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Warsaw and in the years 1939–84 in the National Museum in Warsaw. Jean-Antoine Houdon (Versailles 1741–1828 Paris) French sculptor; one of the most outstanding artists of the late 18th/early 19th c. Pupil of René-Michel Slodtz, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Jean-Baptiste Pigalle. In the years 1764–8 he lived in Rome. He won acclaim for his realistic portrait busts: Voltaire, George Washington, Catherine II, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, Napoleon I and others. He also made tombstones as well as sculptures with religious and mythological themes. Moliere (1622–73), real name Jean Baptiste Poquelin. Prominent French playwright, master of comedies and actor. After working as an itinerant actor in a theatrical troup, he settled permanently in Paris where he performed his plays, including at the Royal Court at the Louvre. Author of Tartuffe, Don Juan, L’Avare, Le Malade Imaginaire, etc. Moliere's plays were first staged in Poland in 1687.