Art Institute of Chicago

The Lost Pleiade

Randolph Rogers (American, 1825–1892)

Date

1874–75

Medium

Marble

Culture

United States

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

In creating this sculpture, Randolph Rogers was inspired by the Roman author Ovid’s poem Fasti , which recounts the legend of the seven sister stars who lived among the constellations. Merope, the youngest sister, married Sisyphus and hid herself in shame because he was mortal. The sculpture depicts the outcast Merope as she seeks her celestial family. With its unclothed torso, The Lost Pleiade is the closest Rogers came to creating a complete nude. Although a conteporary viewers may not have understood the reference to Fasti , the title nonetheless reassured Victorian audiences that this partially nude woman had literary antecedents and was thus not intended as a sensual form.

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