Venezia
Larkin Goldsmith MEAD, JR.
(American, 1835-1910)
Venezia
Dateca. 1865
Mediummarble
Dimensionsobject with base: 25 1/2 x 17 x 9 1/2 in. (64.8 x 43.2 x 24.1 cm)
ClassificationSCULPTURE
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Joanna and Travers Newton
Object number1991.93.1
Subject(s)
- women
- female figure, allegorical
- busts
Collection
- 19th century American
On View
On viewCollections
Label TextMead was born in Vermont, but spent fifty years working in Florence. He met his wife in Venice, and used her as the model for this allegorical portrait of the watery city. This subject was apparently quite popular with collectors, as it exists in at least ten marble versions. Venezia is shown wearing a tiara decorated with beads and a scalloped shell with a small gondola on top of it. Her youthful beauty is further enhanced by the seafoam bodice, an appropriate allusion for the city known as “the bride of the sea.”