Diana (modeled 1899): Art, History and Details

Diana (modeled 1899) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, born Ireland, 1848–1907).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Depicting the Roman goddess of the hunt, Diana is a small version of the massive weathervane Augustus Saint-Gaudens designed for the second iteration of Madison Square Garden in New York, a building that was demolished in 1925. Although controversial for its nudity, the weathervane dominated the city's skyline and became a prominent landmark. Due to its popularity, Saint-Gaudens marketed tabletop versions of the sculpture, which were sold through high-end retailers such as Tiffany and Co.

Object facts

• Title: Diana
• Date: modeled 1899
• Creator attribution: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, born Ireland, 1848–1907)
• Culture: America
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: bronze
• Dimensions: Overall: 99.7 x 42.2 cm (39 1/4 x 16 5/8 in.); Base: 33 x 33 cm (13 x 13 in.)
• Collection: American - Sculpture
• Department: American Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1946.354

A detail from the museum

The face of Diana was inspired by Davida Johnson Clark, the artist's longtime model, muse, and lover.

Collection credit

In memory of Ralph King, gift of Mrs. Ralph King; Ralph T. Woods, Charles G. King; and Frances King Schafer

Further reading listed by the museum

• Solender, Katherine. The American Way in Sculpture, 1890-1930. Cleveland, OH: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986.
• Milliken, William. "Sculpture." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 34, no. 2 (February 1947): 25-26.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.