Francis Davis Millet

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saint-Gaudens and Francis Davis Millet (1846-1912) traveled in the same artistic circles, first meeting in Rome in 1873-74, and then painting murals for Henry Hobson Richardson’s Trinity Church in Boston in 1876-77. Sculptor and painter/writer further solidified their bonds of friendship in Paris, and in March 1879 Saint-Gaudens, along with Samuel Clemens, stood in as witnesses at Millet’s wedding at Montmartre. This portrait of the groom, with a painter’s attributes of pallet and brushes, was likely a gift to the newlyweds. Here Saint-Gaudens delighted in rendering various textures, from the nubby coat to the wavy hair to the fine horizontal lines in the background. Millet’s daughter donated this cast to the Metropolitan in 1910; two years later, in April 1912, he died in the sinking of the Titanic.

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