Jephthah's Daughter at The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois by Scan The World

Description

Jephtha's Daughter depicts a character from the Old Testament book of Judges. An Israelite leader engaged in war against Ammonites, Jephtha, promised that if God assured his victory, he would sacrificed whoever met him upon his return home from battle. Jephtha prevailed but when he arrived at his house, his only child, a virgin daughter, greeted him jubilantly. Here we see the young woman grieving over her imminent tragedy, her tambourine stilled and her head and shoulders drooping with weight of her knowledge. For audiences of the day, this work represented a form of tragic female bravery - an innocent victim, who was obedient, virginal and ultimately unrewarded.. Chauncey Bradley Ives (December 14, 1810 – 1894) was a prolific American sculptor who worked primarily in the Neo-classic style. His best known works are the marble statues of Jonathan Trumbull and Roger Sherman enshrined in the National Statuary Hall Collection.Ives was born in Hamden, Connecticut and at the age of 16 was apprenticed to Rodolphus Northrop, a woodcarver in nearbyNew Haven. He may also have studied with Hezekiah Augur, another local woodcarver who was a pioneer American marble carver. Shortly thereafter Ives turned to marble carving and began carving portraits, first in Boston, Massachusetts and then in New York City. Poor health (and, according to Craven, p. 235, perhaps too much competition from other sculptors in Boston and New York) eventually convinced Ives to move to Europe in 1844, where he…