Sculpting Empathy: representing the destitute in nineteenth-century British sculpture

Description

Draft paper for the Agents of Concern conference in November 20223. This paper identifies a shift in sculpture in nineteenth-century Britain: an attempt by sculptors to represent moral aspects of modern life, which in turn enabled new subjects, narratives and experiences to be articulated in sculpture. I focus on sculptures of the poor and destitute. I explore how these addressed lived contemporary experience, with the intention of prompting an empathetic connection between the viewer and the subject represented, and how these might also form a potential space for empathy today.

Period	18 Oct 2023
Held at	Art History, Curating and Visual Studies