''Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning'' is an 1853 sculpture by

Harriet Hosmer Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...

. Plaster casts are in the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University, and at the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...

in Washington, D.C. As a bronze sculpture, versions are in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art 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 ...

and in the "Cloister of the Clasped Hands" at

Armstrong Browning Library The Armstrong Browning Library is located on the campus of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, USA and is the home of the largest collections of English poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Additionally it is thought to house the ...

, Baylor University.

Early history and creation

Hosmer described the work's creation thus: It was one of earliest works created that Hosmer created in Rome. First created in plaster, the work was only cast in bronze years later.

Description and interpretation

The work directly depicts the clasped hands of

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...

and

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings ...

, without other parts of the body. The artist

cast the hands of the poets herself at the request of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The artist left the casting exactly as it came from the mold to preserve the textural quality of the casting and the lovers' sensitive physiognomy. The difference in size of the hands, as well as the cuff at each wrist, indicate the identity of each hand; and, although her hand is inside of his, hers is more visible, and there is a sense of equal partnership in the representation. The signature of the artist is on end of Robert Barrett Browning's wrist and reads: HANDS - OF - ROBERT / AND / Elizabeth Barrett Browning / cast By / Harriet Hosmer / Rome 1853. The work was in the same tradition as

Hiram Powers Hiram Powers (July 29, 1805 – June 27, 1873) was an American neoclassical sculptor. He was one of the first 19th-century American artists to gain an international reputation, largely based on his famous marble sculpture ''The Greek Slave''. ...

' ''Loulie's Hand'', and they were both inspired by contemporary

Spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...

Later history and influence

Nathaniel Hawthorne alludes to the work in the 1860 novel '' The Marble Faun'', as ''“''Harriet Hosmer’s Clasped Hands of Browning and his wife symbolize the individuality and heroic union of two highly poetic lives.” Later in life, Hosmer commemorated the Brownings in some lines of poetry, "Parted by death we say... Yet hand in hand they hold their eternal way ".

References

{{Authority control Metropolitan Museum of Art 2017 drafts Sculptures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1853 sculptures Robert Browning