Infant Ceres

Erastus Dow Palmer

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Infant Ceres" was the first sculpture in the round that Palmer modeled after turning away from his work as a cameo cutter. It is based on one of his children, logically, his two-year-old daughter Fanny, who was born in 1848. She is presented in the guise of the infant Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and abundance. The hair, decorated with a thin fillet, is pulled back and adorned with blossoms. Sheaves of wheat, Ceres’s identifying attribute, encircle the figure and are tied in front.

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