William J. Stone c. 1837 - 1842

This is a marble bust of William J. Stone, made by Hiram Powers, an American sculptor working in the 19th century. In the United States, the public role of art in the 1800s was heavily tied to nation-building. Likenesses in painting and sculpture served to commemorate the nation’s founders, statesmen, and military leaders, celebrating and solidifying their social position. Powers spent much of his career in Florence, Italy, and the tradition of marble portraiture had its roots in ancient Rome. The association with classical antiquity lent this kind of sculpture an air of timeless authority and social prestige. Powers’s approach to sculpture was considered progressive for its time, because he used new technologies to make possible very precise likenesses of his sitters. Art historians consider questions like: What was Stone's place in society? What did it mean for him to be represented in this way? Answers to these questions require careful archival research and a deep understanding of the cultural context.