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The Horses of Anahita

A work made of plaster.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of plaster.

Date:

Modeled 1848–50, cast 1882–1910

Artist:

William Morris Hunt
American, 1824–1879

About this artwork

In 1846, after reading his brother’s translation of a sixth-century Persian poem about Anahita, the goddess of the night, William Morris Hunt became intrigued with the myth, and he returned to the subject repeatedly throughout his career. Anahita was an important Persian nature deity, probably derived from Babylonian mythology, who was identified with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Although the poem describes Anahita fleeing the dawn in her chariot, Hunt did not actually include the deity in this relief. He probably created the relief as a study for his murals in the New York State Capitol, in Albany. The expressive sculpting of the figures—with the horses’ legs modeled fully in the round—captures the drama of the moment in three dimensions.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

William Morris Hunt (Sculptor)

Title

The Horses of Anahita

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Modeled 1848–1850

Medium

Plaster

Dimensions

49 × 74.5 × 31.1 cm (19 5/16 × 29 5/16 × 12 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Brooks McCormick

Reference Number

1986.999

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/65008/manifest.json

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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