Hagar

"I have strong sympathy for all women who have struggled and suffered." --Edmonia Lewis, 1871

This sculpture depicts the biblical story of Hagar. A woman is forced into the desert, and an empty water jug sits at her feet. With clasped hands, she prays for her survival and that of her child. She has been exiled by her enslaver Sarah, the jealous wife of Abraham, who impregnated Hagar with their son, Ishmael.

Edmonia Lewis portrayed Hagar as racially ambiguous. Created in the decade following the American Civil War, this sculpture suggests a parallel between Hagar's plight and the realities endured by many nineteenth-century African American women, who were routinely raped and impregnated by their enslavers.

Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025