19th century school. Presumed bust portrait of Nicolas Joseph Laurent Gilbert. Patinated plaster (small chips). Height 72 cm - Width : 50 cm Note: Nicolas Joseph Laurent Gilbert (1750-1780) was a poet from Lorraine who enjoyed a certain success with his satyrical works, and was described by posterity as a poète maudit. At the age of 29, he underwent trepanning following a fall from a horse, and myth has it that he died by swallowing a key during a fit of dementia.