Eva Rohr

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American singer Eva Rohr was studying opera in Rome when Saint-Gaudens depicted her playing the part of Marguerite in Charles Gounod’s opera Faust. The character was associated with innocence and purity – themes reinforced by her demure downward gaze and the crucifix around her neck. The inscription on the Gothic-style pedestal is an English translation of Marguerite’s first words to Faust, in which she chastely rebukes her impassioned suitor’s offer to accompany her home.

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