American Art Collaborative

Anstiss Derby Rogers married William S. Wetmore, a New York merchant, who commissioned this portrait three years after their wedding. It was probably Mrs. Wetmore’s wish to have her portrait done in the style of Proserpine, with her shoulders and chest uncovered. When the sculpture was completed, the nudity caused an uproar and the Wetmore family hid the piece from view. Anstiss Wetmore was the focus of even more scandal some time later when she left her husband and ran away to Europe with a coachman. Generations later, when the Wetmore property was handed over to a preservation society, the marble version of this piece was found hidden in the attic of the family home