Eve Tempted

Copied Hiram Powers, Eve Tempted, modeled 1842, plaster, 70 1422 1821 12 in. (178.456.254.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson, 1968.155.7
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Eve Tempted
Artist
Date
modeled 1842
Dimensions
70 1422 1821 12 in. (178.456.254.6 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase in memory of Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
plaster
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — reptile — snake
  • Study — sculpture model
  • State of being — evil — temptation
  • Religion — Old Testament — Eve
  • Religion — Old Testament — Genesis
Object Number
1968.155.7

Artwork Description

Eve Tempted was Hiram Powers’s first full-length ideal statue. It shows Eve contemplating an apple in her hand while a serpent lingers at her side. American audiences in the nineteenth century felt that statues and paintings of nude figures were scandalous, but Powers maintained that “clothing would be preposterous, for [Eve] was naked only after she had fallen.” Her pensive expression anticipates the consequences of her actions, which the artist described in his later piece, Eve Disconsolate.