Day 255 - Latona and Her Children


July 19, 2021

What is labeled "702" on the map appears to be a corridor leading to gallery 700. In pre-Covid times, it housed a small sales desk; now it houses no art at all. So I moved on to gallery 703, on the second floor. Its primary feature is the glass-walled elevator that goes down to the main level, but it does contain two works of art: a rather grand mahogany clock, which  was made in New York in 1795, and this Neoclassical marble sculpture. Executed in 1874 by William Henry Rinehart and measuring roughly five feet long and three feet high,  it shows Latona, the Roman goddess of night, along with her sleeping children (fathered by Jupiter), Apollo and Diana, (I have to assume Diana is the one with the braid down her back, since the nude children's genitals are not visible.)  The caption says that Rinehart worked in Rome, where he was quite successful, and this work strikes me as very accomplished. The folds in Latona's garment contrast with the smoothness of her skin and that of her young children, and while the image could easily be saccharine, it  isn't. I am pleased to find that whoever wrote the caption shares my assessment, noting that Rinehart avoided "sentimental 'prettiness,' which he found 'unworthy of sculpture.'"  But I swear, I didn't read the caption until I'd formed my own opinion!

The chief allure of this gallery, though, is that through the doorway I can see what lies beyond: display cases full of colonial-era silver, pewter, glass, and ceramic objects. I never even realized that the museum is such a treasure trove of Americana - or that this floor existed. There are infinite new discoveries to be made!
 

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