Online Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Diana Sculpture Sculpture

During the 1890s Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, born Ireland, 1848–1907) created 3 reduced variant editions of the 13-foot Diana sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum’s statuette is one of the rare second types depicting the elegant figure posed on tiptoe on a sphere set on a two-tier base. Its matte patina, composed of gold, copper, and zinc, was applied by the electroplating process. The Museum’s Diana sculpture is a reproduction of the original work on view in the Museum’s American Wing.