Campagna Shepherd Boy by Edward Sheffield Bartholomew

Edward Sheffield Bartholomew (1822 - May 2, 1858) was a noted American sculptor active in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Bartholomew was born in

Colchester, Connecticut Colchester is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,555 at the 2020 census. In 2010 Colchester became the first town in Connecticut, and the 36th in the country, to be certified with the National Wildli ...

. After apprenticeships as a bookbinder and dentist, his first employment was as a dentist in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, but he soon abandoned it for painting and (after learning that he was

color-blind Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...

) sculpture. In 1844 he studied at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

's antique class in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, from 1845-1848 directed the

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

in Hartford, contracting a severe case of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

circa 1847, then studied for another year in the

and sailed for Europe. From 1851 onwards he lived in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and died in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

. Bartholomew is known for his bas reliefs,

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

busts and statues, and medallions in the

neo-classical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

. His earliest recorded work is a medallion of poet

Lydia Sigourney Lydia Huntley Sigourney (September 1, 1791 – June 10, 1865), ''née'' Lydia Howard Huntley, was an American poet, author, and publisher during the early and mid 19th century. She was commonly known as the "Sweet Singer of Hartford." She had a ...

(1847). Among his best-known works are ''Blind Homer Led by the Genius of Poetry'' (1851, now in the

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

), ''Eve'', ''Campagna Shepherd Boy'' (

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University is a private conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and philanthropist George Peabody (1795–1869) ...

), ''Genius of Painting'', ''Youth and Old Age'', ''Evening Star'', ''Eve Repentant'' (Wadsworth Atheneum), ''Washington and Flora'', ''A Monument to Charles Carroll'' (near

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

), ''Bellsarius at the Porta Pincinia'', and ''Ganymede''. Many of his works are now held by the

References

* ''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography'', edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887–1889 * David Bernard Dearinger, ''Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design'', Vol. 1 : 1826-1926, Hudson Hills, 2004, page 27. . * Susan Underwood Crane, "Edward Sheffield Bartholomew", ''Connecticut Quarterly'', v. 2, July–September 1896, pages 202-214. * William G. Wendell, "Edward Sheffield Bartholomew", ''Wadsworth Atheneum Bulletin'', 5th series, Winter 1962, pages 1–18.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew, Edward Sheffield 1822 births 1858 deaths People from Colchester, Connecticut 19th-century American sculptors American male sculptors Artists from Hartford, Connecticut American expatriates in Italy Sculptors from Connecticut 19th-century American male artists Deaths from bronchitis