Lot Essay
Mackennal (d.1931) exhibited the original bronze statuette of Diana Wounded at the Royal Academy in 1906 (no.1648). A larger version, probably in plaster, was exhibited there the following year and in 1908 he unveiled a large marble version which was bought for the nation by the Chantrey bequest and is now in the Tate Gallery. In his article on Mackennal (see W. K. West, The Sculpture of Bertram Mackennal, in the Studio, London 1908, pp. 262-267), West commented: "Of special interest are his statues of Diana and The Dancer, because they deal with problems of movement and action and have qualities of modelling which are in the reach only of a sculptor who has thoroughly studied the structure and character of the human form." Diana Wounded is given the status of a goddess only through the presence of the delicate crescent on her brow, otherwise she relates to the studies of female athletes and dancers popular in Continental sculpture of the period.