Lady Macbeth
Completed in 1905, just two years before her death, Lady Macbeth remains one of Elisabet Ney’s most critically respected works.
In this piece, Ney captures a tortured scene from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in which Lady Macbeth washes the metaphorical blood of King Duncan from her hands. The exact inspiration for the piece is unknown.
Ney claimed she had conceived the idea while living in Germany and working in King Ludwig’s palace and an early biographer, Vernon Loggins, suggests that the Ney thought of the sculpture when she was just nineteen and even began modeling the piece while in Rome. However, the first evidence of Ney modeling Lady Macbeth dates to circa 1899.
She completed the plaster model in 1902 and had the piece shipped to Europe to be cut in marble. However, finding a large enough piece of marble proved an issue, and Ney would have to make her final trip to Europe before Lady Macbeth was complete.
Ney exhibited a particular determination to finish the sculpture in marble before her death despite these setbacks. Some scholars have suggested that the piece might have been a self-portrait of sorts for Ney. The sculptor could have easily been depicting the emotional toll of her strained relationship with her son Lorne through the tormented expression of Lady Macbeth.
Unfortunately, Ney failed to leave behind any clues as to what she intended to convey through the work. Following her death in 1907, many of Ney’s friends and supporters claimed to have modeled for various parts of celebrated piece.
A close friend and supporter Ella Dibrell had the marble version of Lady Macbeth put on display in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., where it remains today.
Lady Macbeth Study Models
