The Vow of Vengeance
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
42.6 × 18.7 × 21.6 cm (16 3/4 × 7 3/8 × 8 1/2 in.)
Classification
sculpture
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
158244
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Hermon Atkins MacNeil modeled The Vow of Vengeance in Chicago in 1894, a year after he had worked on sculptural decorations for the World’s Columbian Exposition. He grew interested in Native American culture at the fair, where he encountered ethnographic displays and performers from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. His first freestanding Indian sculpture, The Vow of Vengeance depicts an elder chieftain guiding a young brave as he shoots an arrow skyward. The individualistic modeling of the man sug...