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Genius of Mirth

Thomas Crawford American
1842; carved 1843
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 759
During a visit to Crawford’s Rome studio in 1842, the New Yorker Henry Hicks gave him an order for a sculpture, leaving the theme to the artist’s choosing. Crawford’s selection of a lighthearted youth was likely to please his patron, as images of children at play were especially popular in the mid-nineteenth century. He described his subject as "a boy of seven or eight years, dancing in great glee, and tinkling a pair of cymbals." The sculptor and his contemporaries relished the technical challenges of carving marble; the raised left leg epitomizes the virtuosity they delighted in displaying.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Genius of Mirth
  • Artist: Thomas Crawford (American, New York 1813?–1857 London)
  • Date: 1842; carved 1843
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: 47 x 20 x 24 in. (119.4 x 50.8 x 61 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Annette W. W. Hicks-Lord, 1896
  • Object Number: 97.13.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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