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Nathan Hale

A work made of bronze.

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  • A work made of bronze.

Date:

Modeled 1890, cast after 1890

Artist:

Frederick W. MacMonnies (American, 1863–1937)
Cast by E. Gruet Jeune Foundry (French, 1891–1904)

About this artwork

Sculptor Frederick MacMonnies portrayed Nathan Hale, an American soldier and spy captured during the Revolutionary War, in the moments before he was killed by the British in 1776. MacMonnies rendered the bronze figure with naturalistic details: his waved locks of hair, parted overcoat and rumpled 18th-century dress, and ropes tied around his upper arms and ankles. Hale’s deliberate gaze and the open gesture of his hands convey a strong emotive quality attuned to the finality of the imminent punishment. This is a reduced version of the large-scale sculpture Nathan Hale installed in City Hall Park in New York, one of MacMonnies’s first public commissions.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artists

Frederick William MacMonnies (Sculptor) , E. Gruet Jeune Foundry (Foundry)

Title

Nathan Hale

Places

United States (Artist's nationality:), Paris (Object made in)

Dates

Modeled 1890 , Cast 1890-1937

Medium

Bronze

Inscriptions

Inscribed on right side of base: "F. MacMonnies 1890"/stamped, left rear: "E. Gruet Jeune, Paris"

Dimensions

H.: 72.4 cm (28 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Robert Allerton

Reference Number

1923.1840

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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