Hero
Artist
William Henry Rinehart
(American, 1825-1874)
CultureAmerican
Datemodeled ca. 1858-59, carved 1874
MediumMarble
DimensionsOverall: 34 x 27 1/2 x 13 7/8 in. (86.4 x 69.9 x 35.2 cm)
InscribedInscribed on base: ;
Wm. H. Rinehart. Sculpt.;
Rome.1874
Credit LineGift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase
Object number86.512
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 224
Label TextWilliam Henry Rinehart American, 1825–1874 Hero, modeled ca. 1858–59, carved 1874 Marble According to Greek mythology, Hero and her lover Leander (to the right) lived on opposite sides of the Hellespont, the narrow body of water separating modern Greece and Turkey. Each night Hero would light an oil lamp, and Leander, guided by its flame, swam to visit her. One night winds blew out Hero’s lamp, and Leander lost his way and drowned. Heartbroken, Hero leapt into the heavy seas and perished. Like many American sculptors, William Henry Rinehart worked in Rome, where tragic subjects from the ancient world easily appealed to his tourist clients. Gift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase 86.512ProvenancePauline Rose (?), Miami, Fla.; Joseph Tudisco Antiques, Coral Gables, Fla., by 1979; Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, by 1982; private collection, 1984; James H. Ricau, Piermont, N.Y., 1984; Gift of James H. Ricau and Chrysler Museum Purchase, 1986. Exhibition History"Carved and Modeled: American Sculpture, 1810-1940," Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, N.Y., April 20 - June 4, 1982. (Exh. cat. no. 13) "The Ricau Collection," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., February 26 - April 23, 1989. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. Published ReferencesHiram Fuller, _Sparks from a Locomotive_ (New York, 1859), 271. Samuel Osgood, "American Artists in Italy," _Harper's New Monthly Magazine_ 41 (August 1870): 420-425. S., "In Memoriam," _Boston Daily Evening Transcript_ (November 3, 1874): 6. Albert Huidekooper, _Glimpses of Europe in 1867-1868_ (Meadeville, Pa., 1882), 184. Lorado Taft, _The History of American Sculpture_ (New York: The MacMillan Co., 1925), 175. Marvin Chauncey Ross and Anna Wells Rutledge, _A Catalogue of the Work of William Henry Rinehart, Maryland Sculptor, 1825-1874_, exh. cat., Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, Md., 1948, 25-26, no. 17. William H. Gerdts, _American Neo-Classic Sculpture: The Marble Resurrection_ (New York: Viking Press, 1973), 56-57. ISBN: 0670120022 Susan Menconi, _Carved and Modeled: American Sculpture, 1810-1940_, exh. cat., Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, N.Y., 1982, 32-33. Wayne Craven, _Sculpture in America_, rev. ed. (New York: Cornwall Books, 1984), 293. ISBN: 0874132258 Joyce Szabo, "Famed Neoclassical Sculpture Collection, Acquired by the Chrysler Museum," _The Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 17, no. 2 (March 1987): 4-5. Eleanor H. Gustafson, "Museum Accessions," _The Magazine Antiques_ 132 (October 1987): 688. Janet A. Headley, "English Literary and Aesthetic Influences on American Sculptors in Italy, 1825-1875," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, 1988, 278-286, 436. William L. Vance, _America's Rome_ 2 vols. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), volume I: 218, 263-264, 328. ISBN: 0300036701, 0300044534 Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), 114-115, no. 90. ISBN: 0940744597, 0940744627 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), 191-196, no. 47. ISBN: 1555951317 H. Nichols B. Clark, "Pairs of Sculptures Collected by James Ricau," _The Magazine Antiques_ (November 1997): 700-705. 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), 70-71, no. 37. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6
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