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Fedalma
1883-1884
George Fuller
Born: Deerfield, Massachusetts 1822
Died: Brookline, Massachusetts 1884
oil on canvas
42 1/8 x 30 3/8 in. (107.0 x 77.0 cm.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Gift of John Gellatly
1929.6.45
Smithsonian American Art Museum
3rd Floor,
Luce Foundation Center
This painting shows the heroine of George Eliot's poem The Spanish Gypsy. In the poem the gypsy Fedalma must choose between family duty and the prospect of a happy marriage with a wealthy duke ("Women in the Literary Marketplace," Cornell Univ. Library Web site). Fuller chose to show her holding a gold necklace, a gift from the duke that symbolized the splendor he could offer her.
For more information about this work visit the Luce Foundation Center.
Keywords
Ethnic - Gypsy
Ethnic - Spanish
Figure female
Literature - Eliot - Spanish Gypsy
painting
paint - oil
fabric - canvas
About George Fuller
Born: Deerfield, Massachusetts 1822 Died: Brookline, Massachusetts 1884



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