Eva Rohr

The American singer Eva Rohr was studying opera in Rome when Saint-Gaudens depicted her playing the part of Marguerite in Charles Gounod’s opera Faust. The character was associated with innocence and purity – themes reinforced by her demure downward gaze and the crucifix around her neck. The inscription on the Gothic-style pedestal is an English translation of Marguerite’s first words to Faust, in which she chastely rebukes her impassioned suitor’s offer to accompany her home.

Credit: Gift of Allan H. Smith, 1990