Cleveland Museum of Art

Amor Caritas

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Date

modeled 1898, cast after 1898

Medium

bronze

Culture

America, late 19th Century

Department

American Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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

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