America / modeled 1864, carved c. 1870
The Sleeping Faun
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs The Sleeping Faun as sculpture (America · modeled 1864, carved c. 1870).
Hosmer said, "I honor every woman who has strength enough to step out of the beaten path. . . ."
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this sculpture as marble and credits Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (American, 1830–1908).
The museum's collection notes: Hosmer is the best known female member of a large group of American artists working in Italy during the mid-1800s. The Sleeping Faun , a depiction of a pointed-eared woodland spirit, demonstrates her mastery of the neoclassical style, which was inspired by the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Hosmer’s playful sense of humor infuses the composition: a half-human, half-goat satyr mischievously ties the unwitting faun’s animal skin garment to a tree stump.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtThe Sleeping FaunOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.