Collection Online as of February 1, 2023

Amor Caritas

modeled 1898, cast after 1898

sculptor

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

(American, 1848–1907)

America, late 19th Century

Bronze

Overall: 101 x 45.2 cm (39 3/4 x 17 13/16 in.)

Gift of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection 1923.726

Location

207 American Realism

Fun Fact

An elementary school in Manhattan is named in Saint-Gaudens's honor.

Description

Saint-Gaudens based this angelic figure, an allegory of Love and Charity, on his longtime model and mistress, Davida Johnson Clark. The initial life-size bronze cast of the composition received much acclaim, and the artist regarded it as “one of the things I care for most that I have done.” Due to its popularity, approximately 20 smaller-scale versions, including this example, were produced by Saint-Gaudens and sold through high-end retail outlets such as Tiffany & Co. in New York.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed and dated lower left: Augustus Saint-Gaudens MDCCCXCVIII; inscribed on table: AMOR CARITAS

Provenance

Mrs. Henry A. Everett

Citations

Solender, Katherine. The American Way in Sculpture, 1890-1930. Cleveland, OH: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. cat. #1, p. 12, repr.

W. M. M. "Contemporary American Bronzes." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 6, no. 10 (1919): 151-63. Mentioned: p. 151 www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. Reproduced: p. 37 archive.org

Exhibition history

The American Way in Sculpture 1890-1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 12-October 19, 1986).

Cleveland Collects American Art of the Gilded Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 23-May 18, 2003).