Captured queen returns to her public

“Zenobia in Chains,” a monumental marble sculpture made in 1859 by American artist Harriet Hosmer, has a new home at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

The San Marino institution will announce the acquisition today, but it purchased the sculpture for $397,878 in November at Sotheby’s London with funds from the Virginia Steele Scott Foundation, a longtime supporter of the Huntington’s American art program.

The foundation’s formal relationship with the Huntington began in 1979 with a gift of American paintings, funds to construct a gallery to display them and an endowment. Nearly 30 years later, the foundation has disbanded and turned over all its assets -- $11 million -- to the Huntington for the acquisition of American art. The Hosmer is the first purchase from that fund.

The intricately carved depiction of the queen of Palmyra (now Syria) will go on view in May 2009 when the Huntington reopens its expanded American art galleries.

Jessica Todd Smith, curator of American art at the museum, described “Zenobia in Chains” as the premier work of an artist whom she ranks as “the most important American female sculptor of the 19th century.”

It has arrived in San Marino with lots of stories, she said.

“It’s such a powerful statement about womanhood, portraying a woman who ruled well and with tremendous authority,” Smith said. “Although it represents the moment of her capture by Aurelius, who took her to Rome in chains, she is very dignified. Hosmer represents her poise and stoic nature. It’s a powerfully feminist message for its day, and it’s beautifully executed.”

The work is so well executed, in fact, that it became an object of controversy.

“It was exhibited at the International Exhibition in London in 1862, and people were so impressed that a couple of the critics said that it couldn’t have been done by a woman,” Smith said. “She had to defend her reputation.”

The curator also deems the artwork “an important find.” Although “Zenobia” traveled to New York, Boston and Chicago after its London debut, it disappeared into a private collection until last fall, when it turned up in Sotheby’s auction catalog.

Thanks to the transfer of Scott Foundation funds, the Huntington was able to move quickly and buy the piece.

In its new lodgings, the artwork will join a growing group of American sculptures that includes “Pandora,” a life-size neoclassical figure by Chauncey Bradley Ives, also shown at the 1862 International Exhibition.

--

suzanne.muchnic@latimes.com