Head of Victory
1897–1903; cast 1907
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
8 x 7 x 6 1/2 in. (20.3 x 17.8 x 16.5 cm)
Classification
Bust
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1907
Accession Number
07.90
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the *Head of Victory*, a bronze sculpture by Augustus Saintaudens, crafted between 1897 and 1903 and cast in 1907. This intimate bust, measuring just 8 x 7 x 6½ inches, resides in the Metropolitan Museum of's American Wing, acquired through the Rogers Fund. Saint-Gaudens, a figure in American sculpture during the Gilded Age, was renowned for his masterful public monuments and portraiture, blending classical ideals with lifelike realism. As an allegorical depiction, the work personifies Victory—a timeless symbol of triumph and glory—rendered with Saint-Gaudens's signature sensitivity to...
About the Artist
Augustus Saint-Gaudens · 1848–1907
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907) was an Irish-born American sculptor widely regarded as the greatest American sculptor of the nineteenth century. Born in Dublin to a French father and Irish mother, he was brought to New York City as an infant. He trained as a cameo cutter, studied at the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design, and then traveled to Paris, where he studied at the École de...