Blind Homer Led by the Genius of Poetry

Edward Sheffield Bartholomew

1851 · Marble · The American Wing

One of many American neoclassical sculptors who worked in Italy during the mid-nineteenth century, Bartholomew had a brief but successful career. "Blind Homer Led by the Genius of Poetry" attests to his command of the illusionistic and technical challenges of relief sculpture. The figures project convincingly as Poetry leads Homer across a plinth. They are dressed in classical garb that clings to their bodies yet falls in stylizing folds, suggesting the pull between realism and idealism often evident in mid-nineteenth-century American sculpture. This relief—and indeed many by Bartholomew and other Americans—reflects the profound influence of Italian sculptor Antonio Canova, especially in the crisp linearity of form and refined carving. The marble is surrounded by its original gilt frame.

Artist

Edward Sheffield Bartholomew

Date

1851

Medium

Marble

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Morris K. Jesup Fund, and Gift of William Nelson, by exchange, 1996