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Randolph Rogers

Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompeii

Maker

Randolph Rogers (American, 1825-1892)

Title

Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompeii

Year

ca. 1860

Medium

  • marble

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • marble

Materials

white marble

Dimensions

Height: 78.7 cm (31 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Mary Russell in memory of Mr. John Fiske Paine

Object Number

53.423

Type

  • Sculpture

Publications

  • Journal

Manual / Issue 17: Variance

This issue complements the RISD Museum exhibition Variance: Making, Unmaking, and Remaking Disability, on view through October 9, 2022.

Exhibition History

Pilgrims of Beauty
Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy
Feb 03, 2012 – Jul 08, 2012

Label copy

This statue depicts the slave girl Nydia, a character in the 1834 best-selling historical fiction novel The Last Days of Pompeii by English author Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. At the novel’s climax, as the catastrophic 79 AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius shrouds the ancient Roman city with a dense cloud of ash, the blind Nydia becomes a hero, able to navigate the dark city to rescue her friends without use of her eyes. This sculpture shows Nydia listening for familiar voices, while the fallen Corinthian column at her feet is evidence of the destruction and danger around her. “Poor girl!” Bulwer-Lytton writes, “Her courage was beautiful to behold!” The dynamic sweep of Nydia’s robe invites viewers to circle the statue as they sympathize with the blind girl’s disability and admire her fortitude.

Randolph Rogers moved to Italy in 1848 and, like many foreign sculptors, settled there permanently to take advantage of easy access to high quality marble, skilled Italian studio assistants, and a steady stream of tourist clients. Living in Italy also allowed him to study from the world’s finest collections of ancient marble sculpture. His works show his admiration for the idealized beauty of classical statues of gods and heroes, but his subject matter-stories from the Bible or contemporary literature-was accessible to a wide American audience.

An American Idyll
19th-Century Paintings and Decorative Arts
Apr 06, 2007 – Jan 06, 2008
Carvings, Casts, & Replicas
Nineteenth-Century Sculpture from Europe & America in New England Collections
Feb 10, 1995 – Apr 23, 1995

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Randolph Rogers (American, 1825-1892)
Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompeii, ca. 1860
Marble
Height: 78.7 cm (31 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Mary Russell in memory of Mr. John Fiske Paine 53.423

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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