Details

Title

Undine Rising from the Waters

Artist/Maker

Chauncey Bradley Ives (American, 1810–1894)

Date

after 1859

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

60 x 18 x 16 inches

Credit

Gift of the West Foundation in honor of Gudmund Vigtel and Michael E. Shapiro

Accession #

2010.67

Location

On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 3, Gallery 311

Rooted in medieval legend, the story of Undine—a mortal but soulless sea spirit—gained prominence in the 1800s through historical fiction and opera. Chauncey Ives depicts the tale’s dramatic climax: Undine rises from the water to take revenge on her unfaithful husband. Unlike other artists, Ives chose to represent the heroine as victimized rather than vengeful. Such emotional restraint was in keeping with the work’s sober Neoclassicism and greatly appealed to a Victorian sensibility.

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