Attributed to Edmonia Lewis

This fine bust which follows the antique model of the future Emperor Augustus as a boy is near identical another signed by the celebrated African American sculptor Edmonia Lewis in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution (inv. no. 1983.95.180). Lewis' bust was described thus by one of her patrons, “[It] seemed to all of us the best reproduction of the original then offered by any artist in Rome.” (cf Smithsonian cataloguing accessed 22 June 2023: https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/young-octavian-14633).

Lewis moved to Europe in 1865 and lived first in Florence and later in Rome, where she established herself as 'America's first prominent non-white sculptor' according to Marilyn Richardson. In Rome she made copies of numerous celebrated models including Michelangelo's Moses (1875, Smithsonian Institution, inv. no. 1984.149.1).