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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.

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

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