John Magee Ellsworth

Thomas Ball

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1876 the family of John Magee Ellsworth (1874-1921) made a stop at Ball’s studio in Florence during their Grand Tour of Europe, resulting in a commission for full-length portrait of two-year-old Ellsworth. He is depicted nude, in a contrapposto pose, holding drapery in his left hand and raising his right one in greeting. The original accompanying mahogany pedestal (28 3/4 in. H) is identical to those favored by fellow American expatriate sculptor Hiram Powers, whose Florentine estate adjoined Ball’s property. It was quite possible fashioned by the same workers.

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