America
1850–54
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
74 × 52.4 × 34.7 cm (29 1/8 × 20 5/8 × 13 5/8 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
64076
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Modeling an abstract idea as a woman, here an allegory of America, artist Hiram Powers sought to give visual form to democratic ideals, which he believed would resonate strongly with audiences in both the United States and Europe in the mid-19th century. Draped cloth partially covers the figure’s chest and she wears a headband, or diadem, whose 13 stars signify the nation’s first states. This classicizing bust is drawn from Powers’s full-scale sculpture, similarly called America, in which the wo...
About the Artist
Hiram Powers · 1805–1873
Comment on works: sculptor