Young Woman in Bed (Jeune femme au lit)

Frederick William MacMonnies’s choice of Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, as the subject of this sculpture testifies to the interest in mythological subjects and themes among Neoclassical American sculptors during the latter half of the nineteenth century. However, the artist eschewed the idealized proportions of Neoclassicism to embrace a more naturalistic modeling of the human form.

An artist of international acclaim during his lifetime, MacMonnies completed the design for Diana while training in Paris. After the life-size plaster model earned an award at the Salon of 1889, he began to produce smaller multiples such as this one.