Head from the Adams Memorial
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Caption
Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, born Ireland, 1848–1907. Head from the Adams Memorial, modeled 1891, copyrighted 1908. Bronze, 19 5/16 x 12 x 7 1/2 in. (49.1 x 30.5 x 19.1cm). Brooklyn Museum, Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund, 23.256. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 23.256.jpg)
Collection
Collection
Artist
Title
Head from the Adams Memorial
Date
modeled 1891, copyrighted 1908
Geography
Place made: United States
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
19 5/16 x 12 x 7 1/2 in. (49.1 x 30.5 x 19.1cm)
Signatures
In relief on proper right side of base: "A ST G [initials in monogram] FECIT. M.D.C.C.C.LXXXXI" and inscribed on lower edge of bust at proper right: "COPYRIGHT . BY . A . H . SAINT-GAUDENS . 1908"
Credit Line
Robert B. Woodward Memorial Fund
Accession Number
23.256
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Who is this supposed to be and why are they cloaked?
This is a bust from a such larger sculpture of a seated figure by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The entire statue is part of a memorial to the wife of historian Henry Adams.Some scholars have linked the robe-covered head to the Japanese depictions of the Buddhist figure Kannon, who is often shown in such a way. Kannon represents the concept of compassion.Was she widely known as a compassionate person? Or was that smothering adapted at the time for women?Her husband was interested in Buddhism and asked that Saint-Gaudens look towards Buddhist imagery when making the memorial, specifically to the idea of Kannon.
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