Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompeii

Randolph Rogers

National Gallery of Art

Carved from white marble, a girl steps and leans forward on a disk-like pedestal with a wide fluted base in this free-standing sculpture. In this photograph, she steps away from us to our right. She wears a flowing, knee-length dress or toga, which swirls around her, and her feet are bare. She leans forward at the hip, with her bent right leg supporting her weight. Her other leg extends behind her, toe tapping the base with her heel lifted, as if mid-stride. She holds her left hand up to cup her opposite ear, with her elbow lifted as she leans forward. Her right hand clutches a staff, arm bent at the elbow, which she thrusts downward. The end of the staff meets a fragment of a column at her foot, about the height of the girl’s shin. The capital is carved with decorative leaves and shell-shaped designs. The skirt flickers around the stick as if in a strong wind. The right side of the dress has dropped off her shoulder, baring one breast. The exposed body and limbs are round and smooth. Her hair, carved in undulating waves, is loosely swept back, with a cascade of waves falling over her left shoulder. Her face is round and full, and her expression concentrated, with a furrow in her brow and her mouth turned downward, eyes closed. The column fragment at her feet has one smooth face, which is incised with a rectangle carved with the name “Randolph Rogers” and the date, “1860.”