Born in a wealthy family in Lyon and married to an officer who died young, Clémence Sophie de Sermézy created sculpted work of exceptional quality. It has only recently been rediscovered, and the museum of Fine Arts has taken on the task of gathering the most possible representative collection. Her creations are all in clay or plaster, and mainly consists in small groups depicting genre scenes or pieces taking inspiration from funerary or 'troubadour' art. She also sculpted portraits and busts of friends and relatives as well as important figures who frequented her salon, one of the most important in Lyon at the time.

Here, the artist portrays the features of Eudoxie Deschamps de Villeneuve, her son Jean-Baptiste's young wife – only eighteen years old – in a bust which is one of her finest works. This sculpture shows the influence her teacher Joseph Chinard exerced on her, as she adopted his principles of composition: the head slightly to one side bringing movement to the frontal view, the bust cut off at the chest, and the pure lines of the plinth. The extremely simple clothing, whose only concession to the fashion of the day is a brooch at the neckline, is reminiscent of Greek draperies. This contrasts with her complex hairdo with its twisting locks, held back with a comb decorated with pearls and adorned with a garland of daisies. The expression, however, reveals a deeper psychological dimension and an intimacy peculiar to Sermézy’s work.