Modern · Cleveland Museum of Art · 1997.15
The Sleeping Faun
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, modeled 1864, carved c. 1870
Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund · Public domain
- Artist
- Harriet Goodhue Hosmer
- Date
- modeled 1864, carved c. 1870
- Medium
- marble
- Dimensions
- Overall: 127 cm (50 in.)
- Era
- Modern
Why it matters
Hosmer is the best known female member of a large group of American artists working in Italy during the mid-1800s. The Sleeping Faun , a depiction of a pointed-eared woodland spirit, demonstrates her mastery of the neoclassical style, which was inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Hosmer’s playful sense of humor infuses the composition: a half-human, half-goat satyr mischievously ties the unwitting faun’s animal skin garment to a tree stump.