The Lost Pleiade (1874–75): Artwork and History

The Lost Pleiade (1874–75) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Randolph Rogers (American, 1825–1892).

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

In creating this sculpture, Randolph Rogers was inspired by the Roman author Ovid’s poem Fasti, which recounts the legend of the seven sister stars who lived among the constellations. Merope, the youngest sister, married Sisyphus and hid herself in shame because he was mortal. The sculpture depicts the outcast Merope as she seeks her celestial family. With its unclothed torso, The Lost Pleiade is the closest Rogers came to creating a complete nude. Although a conteporary viewers may not have understood the reference to Fasti, the title nonetheless reassured Victorian audiences that this partially nude woman had literary antecedents and was thus not intended as a sensual form.

Object facts

• Title: The Lost Pleiade
• Date: 1874–75
• Artist attribution: Randolph Rogers (American, 1825–1892)
• Place of origin: United States
• Medium: Marble
• Dimensions: H.: 129.5 cm (51 in.)
• Type: Sculpture
• Department: Arts of the Americas
• Reference number: 1889.8

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. E. S. Stickney

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.