Study for the Head of The Melvin Memorial

Daniel Chester French American
 Cast by John Williams American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774

This head is based on the angel figure in French’s "Melvin Memorial," erected in 1908 in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts (a marble replica of the full figure is on view in the Charles Engelhard Court of the American Wing; 15.75). The practice of extracting parts from large monuments gained favor with sculptors attempting to create a market for small-scale bronzes around the turn of the century. French deliberately gave the masklike head an unfinished quality by leaving a seam line running vertically through the profile.

Study for the Head of The Melvin Memorial, Daniel Chester French (American, Exeter, New Hampshire 1850–1931 Stockbridge, Massachusetts), Bronze, American

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.