Frederick William MacMonnies began his career at the studio of the renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. While taking night classes at Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design he began work with Saint-Gaudens running errands and mixing clay. He was soon promoted to studio assistant, allowing him to assist in creating Saint-Gaudens’ works. MacMonnies’ time with Saint-Gaudens exposed him to the elite social circle of his mentor and he formed friendships with prominent businessmen and artists which would greatly influence and expand his career.
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In 1886 MacMonnies went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux Arts with Alexandre Falguière. He won the Prix d’Atelier in 1886 and debuted his work in the Salon of 1887 with two plaster medallions and a portrait bust. He returned to New York in 1888 to work with Saint-Gaudens for a year before returning to Paris. Diana, of which this sculpture is a reduction, won an honorable mention in the 1889 Salon. In 1891 MacMonnies received the Medal of Second Class at the Salon for two portraits. The 1891 award brought him much fame and studio reductions of his works—or “parlour bronzes”—were soon in high demand.
In France, he taught at the Academy Carmen with James Abbott McNeill Whistler. MacMonnies spent much of his time involved with American commissions for large-scale public works, including the Columbian Fountain for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.
This sculpture depicts Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt. Her association with the moon is referenced in her crown. Mythological characters were highly popular subjects of the day, in both painting and sculpture, and allowed artists to explore the expressive qualities of the human body through reference to Classic Roman and Greek sculpture.