Mildred Howells
Medium
silvered bronze
Dimensions
Diameter: 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm)
Classification
Medal
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Jean Gibran, in memory of Kahlil Gibran, sculptor (1922-2008), 2009
Accession Number
2009.432a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, one of America's foremost sculptors of the Gilded Age, crafted this intimate silvered bronze medallion titled *Mildred Howells* in 1897. Depicting the daughter of renowned novelist William Dean Howells a classical profile view, the 2⅞-inch diameter plaquette exemplifies Saint-Gaudens' mastery of portrait reliefs. His Beaux-Arts style, realism with elegant idealism, captures Mildred's refined features with a lifelike grace, evoking ancient Roman coins while celebrating contemporary American literary circles. The silvered bronze medium—bronze coated with a thin silver la...
About the Artist
Augustus Saint-Gaudens · 1848–1907
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) was an Irish-born American sculptor widely regarded as the greatest American sculptor of the nineteenth century. Born in Dublin to a French father and Irish mother, he was brought to New York City as an infant. He trained as a cameo cutter, studied at the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design, and then traveled to Paris, where he studied at the École de...