Spring

William Henry Rinehart

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Spring" and its pendant, "Winter," were among the earliest works Rinehart created after moving to Italy in 1855. Personifications of the seasons and the times of day were frequent themes in Neoclassical relief sculpture. This work is reminiscent of the popular reliefs by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, especially his "Day and Night" (1815; Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen). Only the oval shape is a departure, since most Neoclassical reliefs are circular. Rinehart's bas-relief depicts a young woman as the personification of Spring, with classicized facial features and hair treatment. Her flowing drapery, revealing one breast in the manner of antique sculptures of Amazons, closely outlines her elongated form. She scatters flowers, her symbol.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art