Harriet Hosmer
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Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908) was an American Neoclassical sculptor who became the most successful female sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Watertown, Massachusetts, she studied anatomy at the Missouri Medical College (one of the few institutions that admitted women) before moving to Rome in 1852 to study under the British sculptor John Gibson.
In Rome, Hosmer ran a studio employing Italian carvers and produced ambitious marble works including Zenobia in Chains (1859), depicting the captured Syrian queen with regal dignity. She earned significant income, traveled independently, and lived openly with women. Critics sometimes accused her of having her Italian assistants do the actual carving, but she fiercely defended her working methods, which were standard practice for sculptors of the time.
Sculptures by Harriet Hosmer
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Museums with Harriet Hosmer's Work
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About Harriet Hosmer
Hosmer was the most commercially successful female sculptor of the 19th century. Her marble Zenobia in Chains toured American cities to great acclaim, and she ran a thriving studio in Rome for decades.
Works are at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Her Beatrice Cenci is at the St. Louis Mercantile Library.
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