First plaster model, completed in Florence, 1843

This plaster model of The Greek Slave is inscribed with the date March 12, 1843, marking the date on which Hiram Powers completed the full-scale clay model. The clay model was molded and cast to produce the present plaster. As is normal, the model was destroyed in the process, making the plaster the permanent record of Powers’s original work. The metal pins and pencil marks on the surface are the pointing marks that document its use as a working model for carving the marble versions. The loop in the head was used to attach the pointing machine. (For a detailed explanation of the process see Karen Lemmey’s essay.) In 2015, the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened the exhibition Measured Perfection: Hiram Powers’ Greek Slave, which examined the use of the plaster in Powers’s studio practice.