PRESIDING DIVINITIES: IDEAL SCULPTURE IN ... - Indiana University

monuments; however, he made a clear thematic and stylistic distinction between these
two genres. Although his monumental, public works often feature mythological females,
these are invariably Nikes and Minervas—powerful beings with martial and civic
associations (figs.89-90). They are never nude, nor are they attached to particular
sentimental narratives. Merope’s associated narrative, on the other hand, idealizes the
bonds of filial love, reinforcing a sentimental construction of the domestic sphere and
presenting a domestically unattached woman as a tragic figure. Also, the figure’s
dramatic pose and expression were intended to elicit a sympathetic emotional response in
viewers, placing them in a proper domestic frame of mind. The sculpture itself enacts a
sentimental way of looking—Merope’s gaze expresses her longing for filial connection
within a domestic context.
By displaying Merope in her home, McGraw may have sought to present herself
as a sentimental and domestic woman, softening her image by symbolically declaring her
desire for reconciliation with her family. 62 Yet this image of a desperately searching,
striving woman was at odds with the ideal of Home as a restful haven. At the first large,
public gathering in McGraw’s house (her posthumous 1891 estate auction) a reporter for
the Ithaca Daily Journal described the effect of Merope in its “esthetic” setting. “The
lovely statue looked an embodiment of cold, ethereal scorn at the ignoble scene, as
though she were a beautiful slave up for auction and longed to fly away.” 63 His reaction
62 McGraw’s family purchased most of the objects sold at her 1891 estate auction,
including most of her art collection; however, family members made only a few very low
bids for Merope. They may have viewed McGraw’s sculpture as a public rebuke of them
for their coldness to her. See “Fiske Mansion Sold,” Ithaca Daily Journal, 19 February
1891: 3.
63 Ibid.
274