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Image

Larkin Goldsmith Mead

Venezia

Description

Maker

Larkin Goldsmith Mead (American, 1835-1910)

Title

Venezia

Year

ca. 1865-1866

Medium

  • marble

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • marble

Materials

marble

Dimensions

50.8 cm (20 inches) (height)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of Phelps Warren

Object Number

85.203

Type

  • Sculpture

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

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

Label copy

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
Nineteenth-Century American Art from the Permanent Collection
Dec 04, 1992 – Jun 26, 1993

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Tombstone

Larkin Goldsmith Mead (American, 1835-1910)
Venezia, ca. 1865-1866
Marble
50.8 cm (20 inches) (height)
Bequest of Phelps Warren 85.203

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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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