Happy Are Those Whom Privacy Makes Innocent

Sidney Waugh, Happy Are Those Whom Privacy Makes Innocent, 1946, bronze, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle, 1972.167.35
Copied Sidney Waugh, Happy Are Those Whom Privacy Makes Innocent, 1946, bronze, 2 78 in. (7.3 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle, 1972.167.35

Artwork Details

Title
Happy Are Those Whom Privacy Makes Innocent
Artist
Commissioner
Society of Medallic Arts
Founder
Medallic Art Company
Date
1946
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
2 78 in. (7.3 cm) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle
Mediums
Mediums Description
bronze
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Occupation — farm — harvesting
  • Animal — horse
  • Figure male — full length
  • Occupation — farm — animal husbandry
Object Number
1972.167.35

Artwork Description

The title and inscriptions on Sidney Waugh's medal are taken from Hydriotaphia, or Urn-Burial, an essay written by the seventeenth-century English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne. The physician pondered the folly of men who seek fame in this world and build grand monuments to honor themselves when they are dead. "Happy are they whom privacy makes innocent," Browne wrote, "who deal so with men in this world, that they are not afraid to meet them in the next, who when they dye, make no commotion among the dead . . . 'Tis all one to lye in St. Innocent's churchyard as in the sands of Egypt."