William Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt III

William Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt III

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The eldest of Alice and Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s four sons, William Henry (1870–1892) and Cornelius (1873–1942), are the subjects of one of three low-relief portraits of Vanderbilt family members modeled by Saint-Gaudens for the couple’s palatial New York residence. At ages eleven and eight, the boys appear poised to assume the dynastic mantle, as implied by the end panels depicting oak leaves and acorns from the family’s coat of arms. Saint-Gaudens also completed a monumental mantelpiece for the house’s entry hall (on view in the Charles Engelhard Court of the American Wing; 25.234) and fourteen carved wood panels for the dining-room ceiling.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

William Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt IIIWilliam Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt IIIWilliam Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt IIIWilliam Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt IIIWilliam Henry II and Cornelius Vanderbilt III

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.