Diana
While a student at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, MacMonnies began modeling his first statue, “Diana”. After earning an honorable mention for a life-size plaster cast of it at the Salon of 1889, MacMonnies cast Diana as a bronze statuette the following year. Here, the Roman goddess is represented as a huntress wearing a crescent-moon hairpiece. She balances athletically on one foot, having just released an arrow from the bow in her left hand. MacMonnies modeled Diana not as a perfect classical goddess but as an agile young woman, her face and body revealing the naturalism that became a hallmark of the sculptor’s style.
Artwork Details
- Title: Diana
- Artist: Frederick William MacMonnies (American, New York 1863–1937 New York)
- Founder: Cast by E. Gruet
- Date: 1888–89; cast 1890
- Culture: American
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 30 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 12 1/4 in. (78.1 x 31.1 x 31.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of Edward D. Adams, 1927
- Object Number: 27.21.9
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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