Review: “Edmonia Lewis, Said in Stone” at Peabody Essex Museum

One should never underestimate the power of political assets. Our current president came into office wearing red baseball caps that were loved and reviled by both parties, neither of which could deny their power. In Cleveland at the 2016 rally, I saw a man openly cry because a protester had stolen his. In 2024, the Democrats began selling merchandise that portrayed the candidate as evil, which he was not, as his supporters wore t-shirts showing him with glowing red eyes. They went on to lose 31 states.

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907) found her audience with political monuments and achieved international fame in her own lifetime, but she had never been the subject of a major exhibition until “Said in Stone,” a retrospective that recently opened at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. Lewis went to Boston in 1863 with the encouragement of Frederick Douglass and began engraving small, wearable medallions of portraits of abolitionist heroes such as John Brown and Robert Gould Shaw. This was a big enough hit that, within two years, she was in Rome, working with a group of women sculptors from other countries to carve ambitious marble works that mixed neoclassical style with modern issues such as emancipation, Indigenous sovereignty and religious freedom.

“Said in Stone” includes 30 sculptures by Lewis, the largest collection of his works. Among these are Hagar (1875), a four-meter tall marble based on the character of Genesis, who was cast into the wilderness with his son, Ishmael, after being enslaved by Sarah and Abraham. Given Lewis’s penchant for finishing, you’d like to read defiance into his stance, but in reality, Hagar it’s about the taste of empathy. Two hands cover an exposed chest, as a raised head fights for dignity in a dire situation. Former slaves in America at that time often referred to themselves as “Aunt Hagar’s children,” and Lewis’s image can be seen to capture their experience, no longer gentle but uncertain next.

Portrait Bust of Contadina (1872) works in a similar manner, but depicts an Italian peasant with a stern face and elaborate costume. The piece is notable because it is made in the neoclassical style but brings a theme from religion and mythology to the workers he would have seen in Rome. The rich details in the flower seem to tell a real story: the petals unfold in an intricate pattern that resembles a woman’s dress and perhaps her inner life. On his head, he holds a cloth, and maybe just laundry, but it reminds him of a crown.

Holding Hands by Gerrit and Ann Smith (1872) brings the focus closer. Smith was a wealthy landowner in New York and one of the wealthiest men in America, who used his money to support great causes such as John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. His wife Ann stayed with him even throughout the asylum, possibly to avoid persecution. In the sculpture, his finger reaches into his palm, supporting him at every level. Like the rest of the show, it’s an exploration of what decent politics looks like in bad times.

“Edmonia Lewis: He said to Stone” is on view at the Peabody Essex Museum until June 7, 2026.

More show updates