The Lost Pleiad

Gallery 211, American Art, second floor (Roberts Gallery)

Main Building

The Lost Pleiad

Modeled 1874; carved 1875-1881

Randolph Rogers (American, 1825–1892)

The Lost Pleiad personifies one of seven sister stars described by the Roman poet Ovid in his poem Fasti. Her brightness dimmed by the shame of marrying a mortal, the Pleiad anxiously searches through the night sky to be reunited with her sisters. Regarded as Randolph Rogers’s last great work, The Lost Pleiad exemplifies his flair for dynamic compositions and successfully evokes weightless flight in a freestanding sculpture. Its dramatic form and quasi-erotic, sentimental subject made it an extremely popular work; Rogers received over one hundred requests for replicas following its completion in 1875. Ultimately, it was replicated in two sizes, the Museum’s example being the larger version.

Gallery 211, American Art, second floor (Roberts Gallery)

Object Details

Title:

The Lost Pleiad

Date:

Modeled 1874; carved 1875-1881

Artist:

Randolph Rogers (American, 1825–1892)

Medium:

Marble

Dimensions:

Swivel: 21 1/8 x 21 1/8 x 1 inches (53.7 x 53.7 x 2.5 cm) Base: 41 1/2 × 29 15/16 inches (105.4 × 76 cm) Height: 68 1/2 inches (174 cm)

Classification:

Sculpture

Credit Line:

Gift of Lydia Thompson Morris, 1929

Accession Number:

1929-162-1

Geography:

Made in Rome, Italy, Europe

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Gallery 211, American Art, second floor (Roberts Gallery)

Main Building

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