Original Veiled Lady

The original Veiled Lady, a marble bust, by Sculptured Arts studio.

Sculptured arts reproduction of the original head from Chatsworth's famous sculpture, finely finished in polished marble, and mounted on a white and black veined socle.

On October 12, 1846, William Spencer Cavendish dropped by the studio of Raffaelle Monti, in Milan, Italy, to inquire about a lady. Cavendish was the 6th Duke of Devonshire, widely known in England as the “bachelor duke.” He had eight of the finest homes in Britain. He had 200,000 acres of British soil. He had a banana named after himself—the Cavendish, cultivated in his gardens and soon to become the world’s most popular variety. And now, at 56, he wanted a certain young woman, demurely and paradoxically hiding behind a veil of stone.

Veiled figures, usually carved from marble and suggesting a face or body partly obscured behind fabric, had first become popular a hundred years earlier, in the 1700s. The effect is an illusion, of course, enabled by translucent marble and a sly composition. But as illusions go, it’s mesmerising, and sculptors competed to put all manner of subjects under “see-through” garments, from the Virgin Mary to Mary Magdalene. Cavendish was friends with Antonio Canova, a fellow bachelor and popular Italian sculptor, who adored a veiled Christ carved by Giuseppe Sanmartino in 1753 and declared that he would have given up 10 years of his life to create such a masterpiece.

Monti was certain he could do it. Though he was only in his late 20s when Cavendish came by, he had proven himself a preternaturally gifted sculptor. Like the duke, he had inherited his vocation. His father, Gaetano, had a prominent sculpture business, and Monti learned at his side as well as at the Fine Arts Academy in Milan, where he earned a Gold Medal at 20. He then spent four years in Vienna, sculpting busts of the Austrian royal family, before returning to Milan just as the Austrian empire was solidifying its grip on much of Italy.

Keira Knightley admires Raffaelle Monti’s Veiled Vestal Virgin, in the 2005 film “Pride and Prejudice.”

The duke was convinced. A few days after meeting with Monti, he left the young sculptor with a substantial deposit, worth about £16,000 today, for one veiled vestal virgin. When the sculpture arrived in England, in the spring of 1847, the Duke apparently displayed it in his villa west of London, known as Chiswick House. But in 1999, it moved to Chatsworth House, the likely inspiration for Mr. Darcy’s estate in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and the stand-in for the home in the 2005 film version of the story. In one of the film’s most tender moments, Keira Knightley encounters Monti’s masterwork in the home’s sculpture gallery, and in the veiled woman’s visage she seems to find the compassion she had not yet discovered in Mr. Darcy himself.

For the duke, the veiled virgin was one sculpture in a vast collection of white marble that he had been building for 30 years. But for Monti, it was a game-changer.

In 1848, a year after sending the duke his prize, Monti joined the revolt against Austria. When the Italians lost an early battle, Monti left for London, never to return. And there the veiled virgin became his signature motif, a parlor trick for the elite to display in their homes as conversation pieces. Indeed, he helped inspire a whole cottage industry of veiled women, mostly carved by Italians, who made of these anonymous, virtuous women a subtle symbol of patriotism.

Size 38 x 25 x 16 cm. 12 kg