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The statue's elegant face and poised bearing have the grace and dignity of the neo-classical ideal.

Rogers was a member of the neo-classical movement considered to be America's first native school of sculpture.

Ruth was an Old Testament heroine who left her birthplace and settled in Israel, uttering the words, "Whither thou goest, I will go."

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Randolph Rogers

Ruth Gleaning, modeled 1853, carved 1860

marble on plum marble pedestal

35 ½ x 20 x 20 in.

Gift in honor of Mr. and Mrs. William L. Fortune by

their children and Gift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis

Museum of Art

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Randolph Rogers was born in Waterloo, New York and spent his youth in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  He moved to New York City when he was eighteen years old and worked at Stewart’s Department Store.  The owners of the store subsidized Roger’s education in Italy.  Rogers settled in Florence, Italy and studied at the Academy of Saint Mark, then moved to Rome to establish his own studio. Rogers was a prominent member of a group of American sculptors who studied, lived and worked in Italy.  Their work was influential in introducing neoclassical sculpture to America.  Rogers received a government commission to cast the large brass doors for the United States Capitol.  These doors contain scenes from the life of Christopher Columbus. 

Rogers became widely recognized for his first major work, Ruth Gleaning, which mingles classical attitudes with a religious theme. Ruth was an Old Testament heroine who left her birthplace and settled in Israel.  Her story was typical of the noble themes favored by neo-classical sculptors.  Rogers depicts Ruth stooping to glean any wheat left behind by the reapers.  Her elegant face and poised bearing have the grace and dignity of the neo-classical ideal. 

Reference

Millard F. Rogers, Jr. Randolph Rogers: American Sculptor in Rome, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1971. ASIN: B0017UXY6Y