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Primavera
Paul Wayland Bartlett (born New Haven, CT 1865-died Paris, France 1925)
1925
- Medium
- bronze
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm) diam.
- Museum
- Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Armistead Peter III
- Rights
- CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Smithsonian Institution
About this work
Although the story behind Paul Wayland Bartlett’s medal design is unknown, the title, Primavera, refers to an allegory of spring that was a popular theme among Renaissance artists. The laurel wreath framing the young girl’s head can also symbolize the success or victory that a commemorative medal is designed to honor. This hollow relief, with its ragged edge, was likely produced as an artist’s strike, or sample, to test the final design.
