The Sleeping Faun
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (American, 1830–1908)
modeled 1864, carved c. 1870
Medium
marble
Dimensions
h. 127 cm, l. 152.4 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
American Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1997.15
Tags
femaleLGBTQ+ (after 1900)
About this artwork
Hosmer is the best known female member of a large group of American artists working in Italy during the mid-1800s. The Sleeping Faun, a depiction of a pointed-eared woodland spirit, demonstrates her mastery of the neoclassical style, which was inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Hosmer’s playful sense of humor infuses the composition: a half-human, half-goat satyr mischievously ties the unwitting faun’s animal skin garment to a tree stump.