New photography by Shannon Ruff captured with a digital camera-2007.

Charity

Artist Hiram Powers (American, 1805-1873)

CultureAmerican

Datemodeled 1867, carved ca. 1871

MediumMarble

DimensionsOverall: 29 x 19 7/8 x 13 3/8 in. (73.7 x 50.5 x 34 cm)

InscribedInscribed at rear: ; H. Powers; Sculp.

Credit LineGift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase

Object number86.502

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a marble sculpture of Charity, intended to be flanked by Faith and Hope. It is the most demurely garbed, with both shoulders draped in a Greco-Roman himation that crosses at the sternum. Further modesty is provided by the hemmed undergarment that masks the décolletage. The folds of the drapery are blockier and more massive than in the other two busts, which reinforces its centrality. Her hair is wavy and pulled back, the knot tight; the front of her hair is in the shape of a flame.

Label TextHiram Powers American, 1805–1873 left to right Faith, modeled ca. 1866–67 Marble Charity, modeled 1867, carved ca. 1871 Marble Hope, modeled 1866 Marble The father of the American school of Neoclassical sculptors, Hiram Powers presents the Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Basing his designs on ancient imperial portrait busts, he swathed the female personifications in simple Greco-Roman drapery. Their uniformly smooth facial features and dignified, calm expressions are typical of Powers’ “ideal heads.” Only the Christian attributes displayed in their hair distinguish them from one another: Faith wears a crown decorated with a cross, Charity radiates the flame of divine love, and Hope displays an anchor, a symbol of steadfastness. Gifts of James H. Ricau and Museum purchases 86.500, 86.502, 86.501, respectivelyProvenance[Flemming]; James H. Ricau, Piermont, N.Y., by 1967; Gift of James H. Ricau and Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase, 1986. Published ReferencesEdward Strahan, editor, _The Art Treasures of America_ 3 Vols. (Philadelphia, Pa., 1879-1882), 2:97. Donald M. Reynolds, _Hiram Powers and His Ideal Sculpture_ (New York: Garland Pub., 1977), 1085. ISBN: 0824027205 Richard P. Wunder, _Hiram Powers: Vermont Sculptor, 1805-1873_ 2 Vols. (Newark: Univ. of Delaware Press, 1989-1991), 2:127-129. ISBN: 0874133025, 0874133106 H. Nichols B. Clark, _A Marble Quarry: The James H. Ricau Collection of Sculpture at The Chrysler Museum of Art_ (New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1997), 88-90, no. 15. ISBN: 1-55595-131-7 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 84-85, no. 48. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6