Study of a Sculpture of a Goddess

Inscriptions

Not signed.

Label

Collectors in the 16th century eagerly amassed examples of contemporary and ancient sculpture, which were displayed together in palaces, libraries, and other spaces in the home. Viewers could admire such sculptures not only for their connection to the glorious Roman past but also for their beauty. Ancient sculptures were important sources of artistic inspiration, offering models of graceful positions and balanced proportions. In this sketch, the artist focuses on the drapery of the ancient sculpture, focusing on how the cloth pulls across the body and cascades through the air. Such drawings were key to an artist’s development. In addition to traveling to Rome to sketch ancient sculptures, artists themselves collected antique objects as sources of study.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

HIST 43.02, European Intellectual and Cultural History 1400-1800, Darrin McMahon, Fall 2019

ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022

HIST 43.02, European Intellectual History 1400-1800, Darrin McMahon, Fall 2022

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

German 13.01, Beyond Good and Evil, Heidi Denzel, Fall 2024

History 3.01, Europe in the Age of Wonder, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Fall 2024

Italian 1.02, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Fall 2024

Italian 1.03, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Fall 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Fall 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Matteo Gilebbi, Fall 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Fall 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Matteo Gilebbi, Fall 2024

Exhibition History

16th Century Italian Graphics (Art 41), Lower Jewett Corridor, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 30-June 3, 1979.

Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 7-September 9, 2001.

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Publication History

T. Barton Thurber and Adrian W.B. Randolph, Antiquity in Rome from the Renaissance to the Age of Enlightenment: Selections from Dartmouth's Collections, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2001, listed p.72.

Provenance

Curtis Hidden Page (1870-1946) purchased in Germany, 1920'-1930's; to the Estate of Curtis Hidden Page (1870-1946), Hanover, New Hamsphire, sold to the Department of Art and Archaeology, Dartmouth College, 1947.

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