Soul in Bondage

Elihu Vedder

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

In this brooding Symbolist subject titled Soul in Bondage, the American expatriate Elihu Vedder brought together his key interests in idealized human form, abstracted design, and the themes of internal spiritual conflict. Profoundly inspired by the writer Edward Fitzgerald's translation of mystical Persian verse in the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (Vedder illustrated a lush 1884 edition), he created numerous subjects representing the individual bound by the dilemma of choice between good and evil symbolized here by the butterfly and the serpent. Behind the figure Vedder employed his signature "double swirl," a motif he had used repeatedly in the Rubáiyát illustrations to suggest the forces that converge and then disperse around the brief point that constitutes an individual human life.

Caption

Elihu Vedder American, 1836–1923. Soul in Bondage, 1891–1892. Oil on canvas, 37 13/16 x 24 in. (96.1 x 60.9 cm) frame: 53 1/8 x 39 1/8 x 3 3/8 in. (134.9 x 99.4 x 8.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Harold G. Henderson, 47.74. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.74_SL1.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Soul in Bondage

Date

1891–1892

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

37 13/16 x 24 in. (96.1 x 60.9 cm) frame: 53 1/8 x 39 1/8 x 3 3/8 in. (134.9 x 99.4 x 8.6 cm)

Signatures

Signed lower right: "ELIHU VEDDER/ ROMA/ 1891"; signed lower left: (inititial in monogram): "V"

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Harold G. Henderson

Accession Number

47.74

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

This work may be in the public domain in the United States. Works created by United States and non-United States nationals published prior to 1923 are in the public domain, subject to the terms of any applicable treaty or agreement. You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this work. 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). The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties, such as artists or artists' heirs holding the rights to the work. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. The Brooklyn Museum makes no representations or warranties with respect to the application or terms of any international agreement governing copyright protection in the United States for works created by foreign nationals. 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

  • Tell me more.

    This work is an example of Symbolist painting. Symbolist artists like Elihu Vedder believed art should reflect an emotion or idea rather than merely represent the natural world.
    This individual represents spiritual conflict. Good is symbolized by the yellow butterfly and evil by the blue serpent.
    Fun app, thanks!
    I'm glad you're enjoying it!

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