Bust of The Greek Slave at The Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas

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The Greek Slave, a life-size American sculpture depicting a fully nude female figure, was exhibited for the first time in public with unprecedented popular and critical success. The sculpture arguably became the most famous American work of art ever created, earning Hiram Powers international acclaim and enhancing the reputation of American art and culture abroad. After completing his first Greek Slave in 1844, now housed at Raby Castle in England, Powers produced five full-size replicas, with William Wilson Corcoran purchasing this marble, the first replica, in 1851. The exhibition tour of two versions of the sculpture, including the Corcoran's, around the eastern United States in 1847-51 established the Greek Slave as one of America's most celebrated works of art. Powers was aware that the nude figure might provoke disapproval from a conservative American art audience and so exhibited his marble with texts emphasizing the subject's "high moral and intellectual beauty." The sculpture's nudity increased its notoriety, but its acclaim in the United States during the mid-19th century also stemmed from its connection to recent and contemporary political events. Powers had chosen a subject inspired by Greece's struggle for independence in the 1820s; many literary, artistic, and critical responses linked it to the ongoing debate over American slavery. William Wilson Corcoran displayed the prized sculpture prominently in his Washington mansion, attracting enormous publicity and confirming his reputation as a discerning collector. In Florence, Powers was overwhelmed by demand for more full-size versions and busts of the Greek Slave. The sculpture's popularity also permeated popular culture, inspiring miniature reproductions, designs for chewing-tobacco tins, poetry, and sheet music. The Corcoran website provides further information on this remarkable sculpture. You can find a full version of the Greek Slave created by Powers here!