Maidens

Object NameRoundel

Artist / Maker Christian Petersen (Danish - American, 1885 - 1961)

Date1922

MediumPlaster, painted

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineGift of Sally Draper. In the Christian Petersen Art Collection, Christian Petersen Art Museum, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberUM2022.105

Status

Not on view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Created during Petersen’s tenure as a die-cutter and steel engraver for the Robbins Company, this pair of plaster oval roundels features circular motifs or scenes in low-relief, crafted in plaster. One roundel depicts two women dressed in Medieval-era clothing, situated in a tree-filled landscape. One woman is seated, while the other stands beside her. The second roundel portrays two armed Union soldiers from the American Civil War. One soldier kneels in the grass, holding a rifle pointed upwards, while the other stands to his left. Relief portraits like these frequently depicted idealized subjects drawn from history, mythology, literature, or the Bible and served as appealing alternatives to traditional in-the-round bas-reliefs or statues. Relief sculpture gained popularity in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, largely due to the influence of the prominent sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), America’s leading practitioner in the field of relief sculpture.

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