Detail from Cycle of Life Sundial – Hands Supporting Baby

Paul Manship, Detail from Cycle of Life Sundial--Hands Supporting Baby, 1955, bronze on marble base, 13 x 6 ³⁄₄ x 4 ³⁄₄ in. (32.9 x 17.0 x 12.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Paul Manship, 1966.47.12

Artwork Details

Title: Detail from Cycle of Life Sundial – Hands Supporting Baby
Artist: Paul Manship
Date: 1955
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
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Luce Foundation Center
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4th Floor
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49A
Dimensions: 13 x 6 ³⁄₄ x 4 ³⁄₄ in. (32.9 x 17.0 x 12.0 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of Paul Manship
Mediums: bronze
marble
Mediums Description: bronze on marble base
Classifications: Sculpture
Subjects: Figure male — child — full length
Object — furniture — clock
Study — sculpture model
Figure male — full length
Figure male — nude
Allegory — life
Figure — fragment — hand
Object Number: 1966.47.12
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1966.47.12

Artwork Description

Paul Manship created several versions of the Cycle of Life sundial. In the finished sculpture, a man, woman and child are surrounded by an armillary sphere, which shows the relationship of the stars to the earth. This model depicts the baby from the center of the sphere, supported by his mother’s and father’s hands. Manship believed that “Man, Woman, and Child make up the Cycle of Life.”