A preparatory study for a portion of Sargent's "Pagan Gods," a panel spanning the vaulted ceiling on the north end of the Sargent Gallery on the third floor of the McKim Building at the Central Library in Copley Square. Sargent's mural cycle, "The Triumph of Religion," was executed for the Boston Public Library between 1890 and 1919. The focal figure in this sketch is Moloch, with his head resembling that of a bull. The torso and legs of the goddess Neith behind Moloch extend towards the bottom of this composition. The final "Pagan Gods" panel was installed in 1895. The sketch has been lined onto cavas with a gray ground.
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Notes:
Title from information provided by the Boston Public Library.
Notes (date):
Date from information provided by the Boston Public Library.
Notes (citation):
Olivier, K. “Preparatory Oil Sketches and Scale Models.” John Singer Sargent’s "Triumph of Religion" at the Boston Public Library: Creation and Restoration, edited by Narayan Khandekar, Gianfranco Pocobene, Kate Smith. Yale University Press, 2009, New Haven.
Notes (historical):
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was born in Florence, Italy to an American family. He was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and spent most of his life living and working in England. The artist maintained close ties to Boston and painted the Boston Public Library murals concurrently with murals at the nearby Museum of Fine Arts. Known for his aptitude as a portrait painter, Sargent was commissioned to capture many famous faces of his day. The library murals -- arguably his most ambitious works -- represented an opportunity to solidify his reputation as a master. He was not a highly religious man, but remained fascinated by religious imagery and iconography. "Triumph of Religion" represented an opportunity for the mid-career artist to take on a truly ambitious theme and celebrate his study of religious visual history. His mural cycle was left incomplete, perhaps slowed by the artist's personal loss with the death of his niece in World War I, as well as by criticism received from members of the public who found his representations offensive.
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