The Babes in the Wood
ca. 1850, carved 1851
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
17 x 49 x 33 1/2 in. (43.2 x 124.5 x 85.1 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Hamilton Fish, 1894
Accession Number
94.9.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Thomas Crawford's *The Babes in the Wood* (ca. 1850, carved 1851) is a poignant marble sculpture capturing the innocence of childhood from the beloved English fairy tale of two lost siblings abandoned in the woods. Measuring 17 x 49 x 33½ inches, this life-sized group evokes Victorian sentimentality, blending tenderness with tragedy as the children huddle together in eternal slumber, protected by woodland creatures in some interpretations of the tale. Crawford, a leading American neoclassical sculptor trained in Rome, exemplifies the era's pursuit of idealized beauty and classical restraint i...