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Louise Adele Dickerson Gould

1893, carved 1894
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
In 1893 the New York lawyer Charles W. Gould commissioned Saint-Gaudens to complete a portrait of his late wife, Louise Adele Dickerson Gould (b. 1856), who died in 1883 at age twenty-six, after less than three years of marriage. Using photographs for reference, the sculptor modeled the demure Louise Gould as she appeared in fashionable bridal finery on her wedding day, St. Agnes Eve, January 20, 1881. The reference to St. Agnes, who is associated with purity and martyrdom, accentuates the melancholy of the sculpture. So too does its rectangular shape, which is evocative of a tombstone capped with an ornamental crest of acanthus scrolls, and the inscription on the lower portion of the panel: she seemed a splendid angel newly dressed save wings for heaven.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Louise Adele Dickerson Gould
  • Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
  • Carver: Carved by Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio (active 1893–1946)
  • Date: 1893, carved 1894
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: 40 3/4 x 25 1/2 in., 143lb. (103.5 x 64.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Charles W. Gould, 1915
  • Object Number: 15.105.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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The Children of Jacob H. Schiff, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
The Children of Jacob H. Schiff
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1884–85, carved 1906–7
Louise Adele Dickerson Gould, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
Louise Adele Dickerson Gould
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Piccirilli Brothers Marble Carving Studio
1894, carved 1895
Bessie Springs Smith White (Mrs. Stanford White), Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Marble, American
Bessie Springs Smith White (Mrs. Stanford White)
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1884, carved by 1888
Frances Folsom Cleveland, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Bronze
Frances Folsom Cleveland
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1887–92, cast 1902
Mildred Howells, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, silvered bronze, American
Mildred Howells
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1897

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