Life Cast of Left Forearm and Hand (fragment, study for "The Greek Slave")

Studio of Hiram Powers, founded Florence, Italy 1837-closed 1873 · ca. 1843

This cast of a woman's forearm and hand eerily captures the unmistakable skin texture and muscle tone of a living model. Remarkably, it is the exact size and holds the same pose as the left arm and hand of The Greek Slave, inviting us to wonder who may have served as the artist's model for this famed sculpture and to what extent Powers relied on studies from life to create his idealized figures.