A White Slave in America: Hiram Powers's <em>Greek Slave</em> and the Cultural Construction of Race

<p>This study examines the creation, exhibition and cultural influence of Hiram Powers's <em>Greek Slave</em> (first version, c. 1843), a marble sculpture that depicts a white female figure with shackled wrists. During the mid-nineteenth century, the statue appeared in exhibitions throughout Europe and America. In antebellum America, where the work was seen by more than one hundred thousand viewers, the <em>Greek Slave</em> tapped into an increasingly complex set of discourses surrounding issues of slavery and race. Through close formal analysis and a careful examination of the social and cultural contexts in which the work was created and displayed, I demonstrate how the <em>Greek Slave</em> variously contested and reified American ideologies of race.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Campus Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art

Year

2010

Author dc:creator

• Fadeley, Beth

Contributors dc:contributor

• Andrew Graciano

• Arts and Humanities
• Classical Archaeology and Art History
• Classics
• American Art
• Antebellum Culture
• Neoclassical Sculpture
• Race
• Slavery

Statement dc:rights

• © 2010, Beth Fadeley

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/171

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarcommons.sc.edu:etd-1172