My first trip was to the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, CT. It was my first time visiting the museum and I was really impressed. It isn’t a huge museum but does house great exhibits in African, Asian, Modern and Contemporary Art. I spent a few hours there, walking around and looking at the various pieces of art. I finally narrowed down my choices to one from their permanent collection. I chose the one that really caught my eye.

The piece I picked was called “Sleeping Children”. It is a sculpture created by William Henry Rinehart in 1859. It was part of the museum’s American Art collection. The sculpture is contemporary and neo classical. When I first laid my eyes on it I thought that it was so beautiful and peaceful. After further research, I found that it was created as a gravesite marker. That kind of blew me away. The peacefulness of the piece symbolized death. Rinehart had created the piece in a time when the death of children was common. This was his rendition of the border between the sleep of life and the sleep of death.

The piece wasn’t very large in size, it measured 33.3 x 18 x 16 in. / 84.5 x 45.7 x 40.6 cm. It was carved out of white marble. As I approached the piece, what caught my attention was the detail. The first thing that I observed was, the children. They looked to be about three or four years old. They looked to be at rest, undisturbed and unaware of their surroundings. It was very comforting. They looked angelic. The smooth white surface of the marble was shiny and almost iridescent. The children seemed so life like in appearance. Rinehart had done an excellent job in carving out their physical features. From their cherub faces, to the folds in the skin around the wrists, to the tendrils that cascaded onto the pillow, I thought that I was looking at real children. I loved the intimate way that they laid and the calmness he created. It led me to wonder if Rinehart had used models or pictures of children sleeping to help him achieve the result of the image. I also loved the details of the bed on which the children lay. It looked like a throne. Well I guess that it was a shrine. Anyway, the detail in the pillow was remarkable, I had to touch the pillow to remind myself that it was marble. It looked so soft and inviting. The sheets gave the final touch of carved perfection. Rhinehart had somehow captured the natural folds, drapes and tousles of the sheets making it appear like the kids were wrapped up snug.

I really enjoyed my museum experience and this particular piece of art. It caught my attention right away. I don’t really know what I noticed first but perhaps it was light reflecting off of the white marble that caught my attention. At first I was taken aback by the association of children and death but I couldn’t draw myself away from it literally. The more I took it in, the more questions began to flood my mind. I felt sorry for the children and their families. Who were they? Were they Americans? Why was death so common in 1859? Was it polio? The lack of proper healthcare and poverty must have been the reason for the deaths. My thoughts then turned to my own children and my family. How blessed we truly are to have food and healthcare resources. We complain about every little thing and we take so much for granted today, I went home and hugged them and thanked God for my angels. I also wondered how Rhinehart felt as he carved and sculptured away. How long did it take him to create the sculpture? Were the children his relatives? It’s amazing how much thought art can evoke in a person.