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Indian Girl, or The Dawn of Christianity

Artist:
Erastus Dow Palmer (American, Pompey, New York 1817–1904 Albany, New York)
Date:
1853–56; carved 1855–56
Medium:
Marble
Dimensions:
60 x 19 3/4 x 22 1/4 in. (152.4 x 50.2 x 56.5 cm)
Classification:
Sculpture
Credit Line:
Bequest of Hamilton Fish, 1894
Accession Number:
94.9.2
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 759
"The Indian Girl," or "The Dawn of Christianity," marked Palmer’s first attempt to model a full-length female figure. The Albany, New York–based sculptor outlined the symbolic program for the statue in a letter to his patron, Hamilton Fish: "A young Indian Maiden wandering listlessly in her native forest gathering bird-plumes finds a crucifix, which impressive emblem she, seeing for the first time, gazes upon with wonder and compassion." Palmer directed the seminude girl’s attention toward the found object, which she cradles in her elevated right hand. Her left hand, holding the forgotten feathers, rests limply at her side.
Signature: [back of base]: E.D. PALMER SC. 1856.

Inscription: [front of base]: THE GIFT OF HAMILTON FISH
Hamilton Fish, New York, 1856–until d. 1893

Essays
American Neoclassical Sculptors Abroad

Timelines
The United States and Canada, 1800-1900 A.D.

Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861
American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born before 1865
American Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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