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Image

Larkin Goldsmith Mead

Venezia, ca. 1865-1866

Description

Maker

  • Larkin Goldsmith Mead, 1835-1910, American

Title

Venezia

Year

ca. 1865-1866

Medium

Marble

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • marble

Dimensions

50.8 cm (20 inches) (height)

Type

  • Sculpture

Credit

Bequest of Phelps Warren

Object Number

85.203

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Pilgrims of Beauty

February 3 - July 8, 2012

Larkin Goldsmith Mead’s Venezia is both a personification of the city of Venice as the “Bride of the Sea” and a portrait of Mead’s own betrothed, Marietta di Benvenuti, the daughter of his Venetian landlord. Like a marble statue of a classical goddess, she wears symbols and attributes to make her allegorical identity legible. On her head rests a crown of pearls with a scallop in the center, upon which is carved the silhouette of a gondola. Her bodice is covered with an intricate web resembling seaweed as well as the fine lace-work for which Venetian weavers were famous. Mead employs a variety of textures throughout the piece, from the polished smooth skin of the face to the sparkling crystalline hair, demonstrating his command of marble and its imitative effects.

Romanticism and Revival

December 4, 1992 - June 26, 1993

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 (CC0 1.0). This object is Venezia with the accession number of 85.203. To request high-resolution files or 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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