Hiram Powers's "Greek Slave" (1846)

Created by Emily Crider on Thu, 04/10/2025 - 09:44

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Description: 

Based on the original 1841-1843 model, this particular iteration of the statue was carved by Powers in 1846. Though the woman's figure and form would remain essentially the same in each successive version, this statue includes the smaller chain connecting the shackles around her wrists that would later be replaced by longer, thicker links that, in Powers's view, took less time and effort to carve.

 Image Source: The National Gallery of Art

Copyright: 

©

Associated Place(s)

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Timeline of Events Associated with Hiram Powers's "Greek Slave" (1846)

Hiram Powers Sculpts "The Greek Slave"

1841 to 1843

Though American sculptor and artist Hiram Powers created the Greek Slave as a representation of Turkish atrocities committed during the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) from the Ottoman Empire, it quickly came to represent commentary on slavery in the United States. In the late 1840s and early 1850s, the statue was shown in London (including the Great Exhibition of 1851) and various U.S. cities to mixed reactions, largely resulting from his depiction of the woman's nude form.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Publishes "Hiram Powers' Greek Slave"

26 Oct 1850

Elizabeth Barrett Browning originally published "Hiram Powers' Greek Slave" in the second volume of Charles Dickens's Household Words. The poem considers The Greek Slave, a statue sculpted by American artist Hiram Powers, with whom she and Robert Browning were acquainted and near-neighbors in Florence. Because the statue was, at the time of the poem's inception, being displayed across the U.S. and Britain, it is likely that EBB saw a model cast of the statue for herself at Powers's studio in early 1847. "Hiram Powers' Greek Slave" is the fourth of the five poems EBB wrote about slavery and is primarily responsible for shifting the statue's popular context away from that of the Greek War of Independence that had initially inspired Powers' work and towards broader questions of morality surrounding slavery abroad in the United States.

Great Exhibition

1 May 1851 to 15 Oct 1851

Interior of the Crystal PalaceHeld from May to October of 1851, “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” was opened by Queen Victoria in the structure built to house it, the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, London. Image: Interior view of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London during the Great Exhibition of 1851. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was an event in the history of: exhibitions; world’s fairs; consumerism; imperialism; architecture; collections; things; glass and material culture in general; visual culture; attention and inattention; distraction. Its ostensible purposes, as stated by the organizing commission and various promoters, most notably Prince Albert, were chiefly to celebrate the industry and ingeniousness of various world cultures, primarily the British, and to inform and educate the public about the achievement, workmanship, science and industry that produced the numerous and multifarious objects and technologies on display. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Crystal Palace (pictured above) was a structure of iron and glass conceptually derived from greenhouses and railway stations, but also resembling the shopping arcades of Paris and London. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations became a model for World’s Fairs, by which invited nations showcased the best in manufacturing, design, and art, well into the twentieth century.

Articles

Audrey Jaffe, "On the Great Exhibition"

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Hiram Powers Sculpts "The Greek Slave"

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Publishes "Hiram Powers' Greek Slave"

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TimelineJS

Part of Group:

Slavery in the Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Featured in Exhibit: 

Hiram Powers's Greek Slave and Related Images

Artist: 

  • Hiram Powers

Image Date: 

1846