The Lost Pleiade
1874–75
Medium
Marble
Dimensions
H.: 129.5 cm (51 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
153
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In creating this sculpture, Randolph Rogers was inspired by the Roman author Ovid’s poem Fasti, which recounts the legend of the seven sister stars who lived among the constellations. Merope, the youngest sister, married Sisyphus and hid herself in shame because he was mortal. The sculpture depicts the outcast Merope as she seeks her celestial family. With its unclothed torso, The Lost Pleiade is the closest Rogers came to creating a complete nude. Although a conteporary viewers may not have und...
About the Artist
Randolph Rogers · 1825–1892
Randolph Rogers (1825–1892) was a prominent American Neoclassical sculptor whose career bridged the worlds of popular genre sculpture and grand public commissions. Born on July 6, 1825, in Waterloo, New York, the son of a carpenter and millwright, Rogers grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after his family relocated westward in pursuit of opportunity. Showing early aptitude for drawing and wood engrav...