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Victory

1892–1903; this cast, 1914 or after (by 1916)
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 771
Adapted from the full-size figure of Victory on Saint-Gaudens’s equestrian monument to the Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman (1892–1903; Grand Army Plaza, Manhattan), this winged allegorical figure is depicted as a triumphant guiding force. Her classicizing gown is emblazoned with an eagle, and she wears a crown of laurel and holds a palm frond—both traditional emblems of victory. The windblown pose recalls that of the Hellenistic marble "Nike of Samothrace" (Musée du Louvre, Paris). The principal model for Victory was Hettie Anderson, an African American woman who was a favored artists’ model in New York during the 1890s.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Victory
  • Artist: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
  • Date: 1892–1903; this cast, 1914 or after (by 1916)
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze, gilt
  • Dimensions: 38 x 9 1/2 x 18 1/2 in., (96.5 x 24.1 x 47 cm)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.90.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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Head of Victory
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
1897–1903; cast 1907
Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial, Daniel Chester French American, Marble, American
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1906–8, carved 1912–15
Victory, Evelyn Beatrice Longman American, Bronze, American
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1903; cast 1908
United States Twenty-dollar Gold Piece, Augustus Saint-Gaudens American, Gold
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