Twee sculpturen door Edward Hodges Baily, voorstellend een nimf en een jager met hond, tentoongesteld op de Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations van 1851 in Londen 1851

This photograph by C.M. Ferrier & F. von Martens documents two sculptures by Edward Hodges Baily displayed at London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. The sculptures depict a nymph and a hunter with his dog, embodying classical ideals of beauty and virtue which were very popular in the Victorian era. At the time, the Great Exhibition served as a stage for Britain to showcase its industrial and artistic achievements, reflecting the country’s imperial power and cultural aspirations. These sculptures, with their idealized forms, reinforce the gendered expectations of the time: the nymph embodies feminine purity and the hunter represents masculine strength. However, we can also see them as expressions of the complex relationship between humanity and nature, reflecting a longing for a lost Arcadia amidst the industrial revolution. In their stillness, they invite us to contemplate the tensions between nature and culture, desire and constraint.