First version, exhibited at the South Kensington Museum, London, 1858

In May 1858, John Grant wrote to Powers that he was considering lending The Greek Slave to “a new museum lately opened under good auspices called the ‘Kensington Museum’ which contains many of the most valuable works of art from all parts of the world and is patronized by all the leading people of the country.”[1] That year, the statue was installed in a new “Sculpture Room” at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum), alongside mostly British sculptures, notably John Gibson’s Venus. A photograph published in 1896 (included as the first image here) gives a sense of how sculpture was shown at the museum. The Greek Slave is not pictured.

^{[1] Grant to Powers, May 14, 1858, Hiram Powers Papers, box 4, folder 54, frame 25, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.}

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“South Kensington Museum: The Sculpture Hall,” The Queen’s London: A Pictorial and Descriptive Record (London: Cassell & Co., 1896), 171. “South Kensington Museum: The Sculpture Hall,” The Queen’s London: A Pictorial and Descriptive Record (London: Cassell & Co., 1896), 171.

“Minor Topics of the Month,” Art Journal, October 1, 1858, 317. “Minor Topics of the Month,” Art Journal, October 1, 1858, 317.

“The South Kensington Museum,” Leisure Hour, April 7, 1859, 217. “The South Kensington Museum,” Leisure Hour, April 7, 1859, 217.