Randolph Rogers American, 1825 - 1892

Conner-Rosenkranz Gallery, 2001

Millard F Rogers, Jr. Randolph Rogers, American Sculptor in Rome. University of Massachusetts Press, 1971, pp. 33-40.

Kathryn Greenthal, et. al. American Figurative Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1986, pp. 155-158.

Joyce K Schiller. "Nydia, A Forgotten Icon of the Nineteenth Century." Bulletin of the Detroit Institue of Arts, Volume 67, Number 4, 1993, 37-45.

The sculpture is overall in good condition but with a visible repair to three fingers of her left hand, the restoration on her pinky finger is loose. There is a visible repair to the tip of her walking stick. The wooden pedestal painted with a faux marble effect is 31 inches tall. The pedestal has chips to the paint on the edges of the hexagonal base.
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Randolph Rogers' Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii debuted in 1856 to critical and public acclaim, solidifying Rogers’ position as a pre-eminent American sculptor and it remains one of the artist’s most celebrated works today.

The subject of Nydia is drawn from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii (1834). After touring the ruins of the ancient city in 1833, and inspired by the stories of blinding volcanic ash, he composed the tale of Nydia, a slave who led her master, Glaucus, to safety. Rogers depicts Nydia at the moment that she and Glaucus have become separated in their perilous journey through the rubble and Nydia seeks familiarity in the surrounding chaos, her distress evident in her pained expression. The grace of the sculpture is at odds with the turmoil portrayed; a toppled Corinthian capital lies at her feet and obstructs her next step, indicated by the tilt of her back foot and grip on her walking stick.

Examples of this model can be found in major American collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.