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The Moqui Prayer for Rain

Founder Cast by Fonderia Nelli Italian
1895–96; cast ca. 1897
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
On his visit to northern Arizona in 1895, MacNeil witnessed the Moqui (Hopi) people’s annual prayer for rain at the top of the mesa at Oraibi. At the climax of the snake dance, participants in the ceremony ran down the trail from the mesa holding live serpents, returning them to the plain so that their prayers would be answered. MacNeil’s statuette is a dynamic study of motion, from the swift rush of the forward-leaning figure to the writhing of the snakes coiled around his arms and even in his hair.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Moqui Prayer for Rain
  • Artist: Hermon Atkins MacNeil (American, Everett, Massachusetts 1866–1947 Queens, New York)
  • Founder: Cast by Fonderia Nelli
  • Date: 1895–96; cast ca. 1897
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 22 1/4 x 26 x 12 in. (56.5 x 66 x 30.5 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Crawford, 1978
  • Object Number: 1978.513.6
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Incidents in the Hopi Prayer for Rain, Hermon Atkins MacNeil American, Bronze, American
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