Ginevra (first version, unfinished)

Hiram Powers, Ginevra (first version, unfinished), modeled 1838, marble, 23 121612 12 in. (59.740.631.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.23
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Artwork Details

Title
Ginevra (first version, unfinished)
Artist
Date
modeled 1838
Dimensions
23 121612 12 in. (59.740.631.7 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
marble
Classifications
Subjects
  • Literature — Shelley — Ginevra
  • Figure female — bust
  • Dress — historic — classical dress
Object Number
1968.155.23

Artwork Description

Hiram Powers (1805-73) was among the first American sculptors to establish an international reputation, rising to fame in the late 1840s with his Greek Slave, a life-size marble sculpture of a chained, nude woman. Few could have predicted Powers' incredible success from his humble beginnings on a farm in Ohio or his time in Washington, DC, where he made somber plaster portraits of four early presidents and other luminaries. Powers moved to Florence, Italy, with his wife and young children in 1837, lured there by its abundance of fine marble and highly skilled stone carvers. He quickly realized there was much to gain from making ideal compositions of nude figures drawn from literary, biblical, and historical themes. Powers set up a studio dividing labor among several assistants and, using the latest technologies such as the pointing machine, to create numerous replicas of his most popular designs in marble. Although he always intended to return to the United States, Powers remained abroad until his death and became an unofficial ambassador for American culture. He was a central figure in the expatriate colony in Florence, where he masterfully marketed his work to British nobles and American collectors touring Europe.

Works by this artist (22 items)

Arthur Wesley Dow, Brittany Farm, 1885, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James F. Dicke Family, 2014.11.3
Brittany Farm
Date1885
oil on canvas
On view
Arthur Wesley Dow, Cemetery at Ipswich, ca. 1895-1910, cyanotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Consolidated Natural Gas Company Foundation, 1997.73
Cemetery at Ipswich
Dateca. 1895-1910
cyanotype
Not on view
Arthur Wesley Dow, Ipswich Prints: Lily, 1901/published 1902, photo-mechanical relief reproduction on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. F. F. Reinert, 1976.96.2.5
Ipswich Prints: Lily
Date1901/published 1902
photo-mechanical relief reproduction on paper
Not on view
Arthur Wesley Dow, Ipswich Prints: Fragment of old brocade, Persian design, 1901/published 1902, photo-mechanical relief reproduction on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. F. F. Reinert, 1976.96.2.2
Ipswich Prints: Fragment of old brocade, Persian design
Date1901/published 1902
photo-mechanical relief reproduction on paper
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

New York Cultural Center
Artist
Date1973
color lithograph
Not on view
(Exhibition Poster)
Date1967
offset lithograph
Not on view
Romaine Brooks, Untitled (Caught by the Collar), ca. 1930, photomechanical reproduction on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.90.14
Untitled (Caught by the Collar)
Dateca. 1930
photomechanical reproduction on paper
Not on view