Thomas Jefferson (Primary Title)
Moses Jacob Ezekiel, American, 1844 - 1917, active in Rome (Artist)
In the 1890s, the European fashion for high-end residential bronze d’art arrived in the United States. American sculptors like Ezekiel and Augustus Saint-Gaudens – whose Puritan is on view nearby – responded by working with foundries on both sides of the Atlantic to cast parlor-scaled versions of their larger monuments. This beautifully crafted statuette is a reduction of Ezekiel’s full-scale bronze of Thomas Jefferson, which stands before the Rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
After studying art in Berlin, the Richmond-born Ezekiel established residency in Rome. One of the century’s last great neoclassical sculptors, he won multiple international awards. Still, as his memoirs reveal, Ezekiel’s identification with Virginia endured. As a youth during the Civil War, he fought alongside his fellow Virginia Military Institute cadets at the Battle of New Market. Moreover, for this Jewish artist, Thomas Jefferson figured as a lifelong hero primarily for his staunch advocacy of religious freedom.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.