Join us for our Spring Lecture and University Night. The evening will begin with a lecture by Roberto C. Ferrari, Curator of Art Properties, Columbia University, sharing new research on an important painting in DelArt’s collection. The Mother of Moses (1860), by the British artist Simeon Solomon, was the first exhibited Pre-Raphaelite painting to depict the model Fanny Eaton, a woman of color born in Jamaica. Inspired by a brief but pivotal scene about Moses from the biblical book of Exodus, Solomon’s painting was appreciated by Victorians as a reflection of the artist’s Jewish heritage. But the inclusion of a model who was the daughter of formerly enslaved woman in a British colony complicates the painting’s subject. Taking as his protagonists an artist and a model both marginalized, the former due to his sexuality and religion, the latter due to her race and class, Dr. Ferrari reinserts their lives and legacies into Pre-Raphaelite history.
This event is open to the public. DelArt also welcomes University of Delaware students, staff, and faculty to join us. We invite all guests to the lecture and to stay afterwards for gallery chats offered by UD students in front of selected works of art.
The Mother of Moses (detail), 1860. Simeon Solomon (1840–1905). Oil on canvas, 24 x 19 7/8 in. Delaware Art Museum, Bequest of Robert Louis Isaacson, 1999.