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America

Hiram Powers American
1850–54; carved after 1854
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 731
Powers modeled his personification of "America" as a bust after completing a full-length version intended to "embody the political creed of our country." The youthful maiden wears a diadem with thirteen stars referring to the thirteen original colonies, which the sculptor saw as "giving majesty and dignity." America was among the most popular of Powers’s idealized busts, and he reaped a steady profit from it, replicating it at least twenty-eight times.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: America
  • Artist: Hiram Powers (American, Woodstock, Vermont 1805–1873 Florence)
  • Date: 1850–54; carved after 1854
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: 27 5/8 x 20 1/4 x 13 5/8 in. (70.2 x 51.4 x 34.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. William A. M. Burden Jr., 1966
  • Object Number: 66.243
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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