Bust of Niobe's Daughter, after the Antique

This bust is based on a figure from the celebrated group of ancient marbles representing Niobe and her daughters, which was much admired by Grand Tourists in the Uffizi in Florence. Anne Seymour Damer was an English aristocrat whose artistic career was encouraged by both the philosopher David Hume and the connoisseur Horace Walpole. She focused on sculpture, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy, and made an extended trip to Italy in 1778–79, where she would have encountered the Niobe group and modeled this terracotta study after the head of one of Niobe’s doomed daughters. According to Greek mythology, because of Niobe’s hubris and boastfulness regarding her ability to have many children, Artemis killed Niobe’s daughters, and Apollo murdered her sons.

Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016

Credit Line: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund