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Curators' Choices: 25 of 27
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Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial, 1906–08; this carving, 1912–15, by Daniel Chester French. Gift of James C. Melvin, 1912 (15.75)
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Considered by many to be French's finest funerary monument, this sculpture honors three brothers who died while serving in the Union army during the Civil War. The figure of a winged angel emerges from a cavity of a rectangular
marble shaft, darkness into light. She projects a duality of mood: melancholy, through downcast eyes and somber expression, and triumph, a branch of laurel held high in one outstretched hand and in the other an American flag, its stars decisively rendered. In this moving work, French has captured the sense of calm after the storm of conflict.
Location: East balcony of The Charles Engelhard Court, The American Wing, second floor
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