# Identify this Statue **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721 "2003-04-24T00:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/1 "2003-04-24T00:22:58Z")
I’m looking for an image of a statue I haven’t seen but that a friend of mine described to me. He says that it is a statue depicting a woman reading a book swhile reclined on some kind of hard table or bed that looks as though it is made of wood or stone. Does anyone recognize what I’m talking about from this description? A link to an image on a web site would be ideal. Thanks in advance for any help. ---
**Author:** ![LanceUSMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@LanceUSMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LanceUSMC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/2 "2003-04-24T02:20:59Z")
I searched for about twenty minutes for this statue. Is it a famous one or is it possible that it was something like a mass produced one for a yard or a local artist? ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/3 "2003-04-24T04:07:47Z")
Thank you for taking the time to look. My friend said that he saw the statue in a book on art. He had the impression that the woman in the statue was a queen, and that the statue was Renaissance era. But he could provide no other specifics. ---
**Author:** ![LanceUSMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@LanceUSMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LanceUSMC)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/4 "2003-04-24T04:55:35Z")
I just spent another 1 1/2 hrs looking for this. It is 1 am EST and I am awake just for this. I have to be up in four hours! I refuse to go to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/5 "2003-04-24T05:05:15Z")
Is it [something like this?](http://www.harpgallery.com/Browse/Clocks __Mirrors__ Lighting__Dec/Statue_-Woman_Reading_Book/statue_-woman_reading_book.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/6 "2003-04-24T05:10:46Z")
There’s a reference to a statue of a woman reading [here](http://www.vmcaa.nl/vm/magazine/whoswho/who001.htm). Sorry, no image. > [@](#): > > Recently, a widow entered the gallery. She immediately felt in love with a statue of a woman reading a book. The title of the statue was “Knowledge is Power”. For the woman, this evoked memories of her father who always teached her the same message". ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/7 "2003-04-24T07:18:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Recently, a widow entered the gallery. She immediately felt in love with a statue of a woman reading a book. The title of the statue was “Knowledge is Power”. For the woman, this evoked memories of her father who always teached her the same message". I find this deeply ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/8 "2003-04-24T07:21:43Z")
As do I, since “teached” isn’t a word. ---
**Author:** ![yola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/48db29/32.png) [@yola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yola)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/9 "2003-04-24T07:44:40Z")
As in “I teached the teacher”? ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/10 "2003-04-24T07:46:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tyrrell McAllister \* > \*\*I’m looking for an image of a statue I haven’t seen but that a friend of mine described to me. He says that it is a statue depicting a woman reading a book swhile reclined on some kind of hard table or bed that looks as though it is made of wood or stone. > > Does anyone recognize what I’m talking about from this description? A link to an image on a web site would be ideal. > > Thanks in advance for any help. \*\* Was it ancient or modern? Life size? Painted? Additive (e.g. clay) or subtractive (e.g. chiseled stone) sculpture? Realistic or abstract? [This statue](http://www.harpgallery.com/Browse/Clocks __Mirrors__ Lighting__Dec/Statue_-Woman_Reading_Book/statue_-woman_reading_book.html) seems to fit some of the particulars. Here’s another hunch: It might have been a work in a cemetery. I’ve seen a number of works of musuem quality in cemeteries, usually in the plots of the very wealthy. If the statue looks a bit mournful or seems to be a memorial, this would be one path to follow. The [Saint-Gaudens statue often called “Grief”](http://www.homestead.com/hereibe/Adams.html) is a good example of this type of work, though I doubt this is the particular one you want. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/11 "2003-04-24T08:15:16Z")
[This one](http://www.allkindsofgiftsonline.com/collectibles/figurines/21833.html) is cheap at least. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/12 "2003-04-24T15:47:08Z")
Ok. Details he can probably remember-- was she wearing clothes? It was “in the round” and not a relief sculpture, right? What position was she in-- lying on her side, stomach, back? Any idea where the sculptor was from from vague recollection of the name? Was she indeed reading? Was it more sexy or less sexy than [Canova](http://www.thais.it/scultura/sch00238.htm) ? ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/13 "2003-04-24T23:08:14Z")
Thanks everyone for looking. I haven’t had a chance yet to show any of the pictures to my friend, but maybe when he sees them it will help him give more specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tyrrell_mcallister/32/16772_2.png) [@Tyrrell\_McAllister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyrrell_McAllister)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/14 "2003-04-24T23:53:04Z")
Ok, my friend has been able to provide some more details. He says [ul]-- The woman is lying flat on her back reading a book held above her face. – It’s “not sexy at all”. She looks like she should be uncomfortable in the position she’s in. – It is life sized – It was sculptured from stone – She was wearing clothes; perhaps even “fancy” clothes – “fit for a queen”. – It is a sculpture “in the round” as opposed to a relief. [/ul] ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/15 "2003-04-25T01:03:27Z")
Hmm. Ok, if it’s Renaissance era, she sounds dead to me-- this is a standard kind of pose for sarcophagi (sometimes they hold books on their chests, although I can’t really think of one of the top of my head where they hold it up and read it–not out of the question). [this spot](http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/scultpurePlastic/sculpture/title/T.htm) has a bunch of links to thumbnails to bigger images of examples of this sort of thing (painfully slow site)-- does this look like the right general format? [This picture](http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Arts/scultpurePlastic/sculpture/bigphotos/O/d_joan.jpg) has a couple of examples of “couples.” ---
**Author:** ![LanceUSMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@LanceUSMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LanceUSMC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/16 "2003-04-25T01:55:50Z")
Is it a sculpture or statue? ---
**Author:** ![LanceUSMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@LanceUSMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LanceUSMC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/17 "2003-04-25T01:59:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LanceUSMC \* > \*\*Is it a sculpture or statue? \*\* Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to be sent. That was my freudian slip. STILL LOOKING. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/18 "2003-04-25T02:28:00Z")
Where did your friend see this statue? What’s the context? ---
**Author:** ![LanceUSMC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@LanceUSMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LanceUSMC)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-statue/170721/19 "2003-04-25T02:31:49Z")
I quit! Too much searching, not enough information. I must have looked at a good thousand photos, many of them very sexy and erotic and now…I have to go.