Detail from Cycle of Life Sundial – Hands Supporting Baby

Copied 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
Date
1955
Location
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
Mediums Description
bronze on marble base
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — furniture — clock
  • Figure male — child — full length
  • Study — sculpture model
  • Figure male — full length
  • Figure — fragment — hand
  • Allegory — life
  • Figure male — nude
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.”