Portrait bust of Maria Antonia Bourbon ("Maria Antoinetta"), Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Artist
Hiram Powers
(American, 1805–1873)
Datedesigned 1846; sculpted 1846–1847
Mediumwhite marble
Dimensions57.9 × 47.3 × 28.7 cm (22 13/16 × 18 5/8 × 11 5/16 in.)
height with base: 70.5 cm (27 3/4 in.)
height with base: 70.5 cm (27 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineBequest of Dwight F. Dunn in memory of Benjamin T. Hammond
Terms
Object number1937.50
Label TextIn 1846, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, niece and namesake of the executed eighteenth-century French Queen Marie Antoinette, visited the Roman studio of expatriate American sculptor Hiram Powers to see The Greek Slave, a nude female statue that was generating a buzz throughout the European art world. While there, she commissioned this portrait bust. Combining the real and ideal, the work cloaked a modern Italian ruler in accessories and a pose derived from the Roman past. Maria Antoinetta’s toga, crown and hairstyle dressed her in the then-fashionable trappings of the Antique appropriate for royalty, while her distinctive facial features ensured that her audience would recognize her.ProvenanceDwight D. Dunn, Worcester, MA, and Rome, ItalyOn View
Not on view
