I don’t know what has gotten into me recently.  I just really feel like blogging about art.  For some reason, Harriet Hosmer’s Zenobia has been on my mind today and so–just for fun–I decided to try blogging each day with an artist, artwork, or art-related subject for each letter of the alphabet.  And, because, I am Lauretta, who likes to do things differently, I decided to do it from Z to A.

Ahem.

So, here we go, let’s start at the very end.  Z is for Zenobia.

So, I can hear you asking, who is Harriet Hosmer and what is a Zenobia?

Well, let me introduce you to “Hattie” who is shown working here in her studio in Rome, c. 1860.

Got your attention?  Excellent!

Harriet Goodhue Hosmer was born (1830) in Massachusetts and was encouraged by her physician father to live an active life to overcome early illnesses.  He instructed her in studies of anatomy, which are critical for an artist’s understanding of how to portray the human body, and she liked to model in clay.  With her father’s connections, she was able to study at a medical school in Missouri.

Yada-yada, I can hear you saying, but women didn’t go to medical school in the mid-19th century! “Ladies” stayed at home and painted watercolors, if they just had to paint, or did needlework more likely.  They didn’t mix with men in medical schools for crying out loud!  But Hosmer did. She seemed destined to defy tradition.

This is “Hattie” as a young woman. Maybe I am reading too much into this portrait of her, but I think I can see confidence and strong-mindedness in her direct gaze; regardless, she would need these character traits to lead what turned out to be a very unconventional life during the Victorian era.

The year 1852 was very critical in Hosmer’s life, for that’s when she left New England for Rome.  From 1853 to 1860, she studied sculpting with the Welsh sculptor, John Gibson, in his Roman studio.  Hosmer met many stars in the international art galaxy centered in Rome, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, George Eliot, George Sand, and she was a frequent guest of the Robert and Elizabeth Barret Browning in Florence.  Just for fun, let’s take a quick look at the Browning’s front door in Firenze.

Omg, don’t you love it?  Did you know that Elizabeth Barrett Browning is said to have said: “When I die I don’t want to go to heaven, I want to go to Florence.”  My sentiments exactly.

But, back to unconventional Hosmer.

I have written at some length on Hosmer before ( for the Metropolitan Museum of Art on their American sculpture collection) and there is plenty of biographical material available on the web for anyone who is interested, so let me simply summarize by saying that all of the educated citizenry of the western world flocked to Rome in the early to mid-19th century.  The “Grand Tour” was de rigueur for the elite, and Americans of means traveled to Italy to acquire class or at least its trappings.

While we can smile at their obvious antics, we need to remember that if it weren’t for these ambitious predecessors, our American art museums would not house their impressive collections.

If you are interested in this era, there are plenty of published first-hand accounts, ranging from Nathaniel Hawthorne (see, for example, The Marble Faun), who caught it mid-wave, and Henry James, who caught the tail-end of wave, but rode it beautifully (Daisy Miller and more).  Reading Henry James’ Golden Bowl, or watching the movie made from it, is a superb way to enter the atmosphere of the lure of Italy for weatlhy Americans.

There can be no doubt that in addition to studying sculpture, Hosmer enjoyed the comparative freedom that a foreigner always feels while living in another country.  And Rome was very open-minded, which was helpful because Hattie was gay.  Her life in Italy must have been intoxicating.

Hosmer met and mingled with many strong women from several countries and she had love affairs with a number of them.  Her private life is really none of my biz, but I suspect it was quite interesting.  Good for her!  She would probably cheer for yesterday’s American Supreme Court ruling, allow for same sex marriage. Huzzah! But, back to art.

In time Hosmer was joined in Italy by a number of other American women who, interestingly enough, made sculpture their raison d’etre.  Hosmer may have shown them the way.

With images such as this, known as Puck, Hosmer garnered critical and popular acclaim. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Hamilton were among just two of the purchasers of this whimsical piece (and there were many copies made, very openly, of popular subjects).

Here is a great photograph of Hosmer and all the Italian artisans that brought her modeled images to life in marble (yes, that’s right, most of these sculptors modeled and hired locals in Italy to do the carving).  When you consider how far women had come, this is a remarkable document.

Zenobia was the queen who ruled Palmyra, a part of Roman Syria, from 267 to 274 CE.  Zenobia, known as al-Zabbā’ (الزباء‎) in Arabic, famously led a revolt against the Roman Empire and became queen of the Palmyrene Empire. By 269, Zenobia had expanded the empire, conquering Egypt and expelling the Roman prefect, Tenagino Probus, who was beheaded after he led an attempt to recapture the territory. She ruled over Egypt until 274, when she was defeated and taken as a hostage to Rome by Emperor Aurelian.

Of all the moments in Zenobia’s life, Hosmer chose to depict her as captive of the Roman army, her head bowed slightly and her eyes downcast. Despite the manacles and chains which imprison her, she still conveys a sense of authority and majesty, for her crown and other jewels are intact, her back is straight, and her shoulders are held back as she steps confidently forward.  I see her as proud and stoic.

Here I quote another blogger on Hosmer:

“Hosmer chose to bring Zenobia to life, not as her usual symbol of a defeated victim, but rather as an embodiment of woman’s ability to move beyond the constraints that have been placed on them.”  This may be an overstatement, but I tend to think not. And I think Zenobia is a great place to start an alphabet!