Why Born Enslaved!
Medium
Plaster, original polychromed surface
Dimensions
h. 67 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
2022.2
Tags
male
About this artwork
One of the most powerful expressions of abolitionist sentiment in the visual arts, Why Born Enslaved! depicts an African woman bound by ropes and looking defiantly upward. The ropes press painfully into her breasts; her torn blouse alludes to the violence responsible for her condition. The original, polychromed surface is covered with complex, nuanced hatchings and subtle modeling. Evidence indicates that this masterpiece of 19th-century French sculpture served as the master model for numerous c...