Chosen by Clive, a former pupil of the Foundling Hospital
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About the object
Many former pupils remember this sculpture from the time when it stood in the main entrance hall of the Foundling Hospital, Berkhamsted. As part of preparations for opening the Foundling Museum in 2004, the Old Coram Association, of which many former pupils are members, very kindly supported the cost of cleaning it. This once again revealed its fine white marble.
The sculptor is not known, but Peasant Boy may have been modelled in the style of similar figures in the Italian baroque paintings of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (c.1610-1662). The Baroque style enjoyed a renewed popularity in the late nineteenth century. The subject matter may have been deemed particularly suitable for the Foundling Hospital.
