Modern Madonna
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Object Label
Like her contemporary Mary Cassatt, Bessie Potter Vonnoh favored young children and their mothers as subjects. In this bronze, a mother gazes fondly at the infant she holds close to her heart. Although the work is secular and contemporary in conception, both the theme and Vonnoh's title refer to one of the most powerful traditional religious images. Vonnoh's appealing groups of women and infants, small in scale and delicately modeled, found great favor with the public, particularly after an exhibition of her work at the Brooklyn Museum in 1913 brought her wider public recognition.
Caption
Bessie Potter Vonnoh American, 1872–1955. Modern Madonna, 1904. Bronze, 15 1/8 x 15 x 8 1/2 in., 19 lb. (38.4 x 38.1 x 21.6 cm, 8.62kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 13.1062. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 13.1062_front_PS20.jpg)
Tags
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Modern Madonna
Date
1904
Geography
Place made: United States
Medium
Bronze
Classification
Dimensions
15 1/8 x 15 x 8 1/2 in., 19 lb. (38.4 x 38.1 x 21.6 cm, 8.62kg)
Signatures
Inscribed along proper left side of base, towards the back: "Bessie Potter Vonnoh. 1904 Copyright No 111"
Markings
Foundry mark inscribed on proper right side of base at back: "Roman Bronze Works N.Y."
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Accession Number
13.1062
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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