Amor Caritas, 1898, bronze, 40-3/8 x 17-3/8 x 3-1/4 in. Signed lower left: AVGVSTVS / SAINTGAVDENS / MDCCCXCVIII Edition of 23 casts; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; museum purchase, the Barbro Osher Sculpture Garden Acquisition Fund. Shown here in the Gill & Lagodich Gallery, New York, 2016. Tabernacle frame, carved Honduran mahogany with selectively oxidized patina; custom replica made by Gill & Lagodich of the Stanford White frame model on the Saint-Gaudens Amor Caritas bronze, Art Institute of Chicago.

above: Amor Caritas bronze in Gill & Lagodich Stanford White tabernacle frame replica, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Amor Caritas, 1898 (cast later), gilded bronze, 40-1/8 x 17-3/8 x 4-5/8 in. Tabernacle frame, carved Honduran mahogany with selectively oxidized patina; custom replica based on the Stanford White model on the Saint-Gaudens Amor Caritas bronze, Art Institute of Chicago. “Amor Caritas features a winged figure in a loose robe holding a text consisting of the Latin words for love and charity. The female figure is an example of the melancholy type Augustus Saint-Gaudens favored. In this case, the grave expression reflects the figure's origin as part of a tomb monument Saint-Gaudens designed. The artist created multiple versions of this subject, eventually marketing it as an independent piece.” — Saint Louis museum label “This angelic figure by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a foremost sculptor of the Gilded Age, is the culmination of his portrayals of allegorical women. He made similar designs for the tomb of Edwin D. Morgan in Hartford, Connecticut, and the mantelpiece in the house of Cornelius Vanderbilt II in New York. Like many other late 19th-century artists, Saint-Gaudens often modeled angels to symbolize the traditional virtues of women. Amor Caritas (Love [and] Charity) probably depicts Davida Clark, the artist’s mistress. Saint-Gaudens brought a level of naturalism to his ideal figure, particularizing the facial features and rendering the drapery so that it suggests the human form beneath.” —Art Institute Chicago label (original frame model)

detail of Saint Louis Art Museum, Amor Caritas, and Gill & Lagodich replica frame, above.