"Eve at the Feet of the Virgin Mary" Proposed Fountain
The project was not completed.
While working on the Divine Comedy stained glass window for the residence of Robert J. Collier in 1911, Violet Oakley came upon a subject that would fascinate her for decades: Eve at the feet of Mary. A vision described by Dante in the conclusion of Paradiso, it symbolized the ultimate reconciliation of sinful humanity with God. For Oakley, it represented the rehabilitation of woman’s moral nature. The artist incorporated the image in three of her works: the Divine Comedy window, the Great Women of the Bible series, and an unrealized design for a fountain.
The idea of a making her composition of Eve at the feet of Mary into a fountain crystalized in Rome in 1937. Oakley’s sketches show several variations, including the Trevi Fountain and a pedestaled fountain similar to the one outside Villa Medici on the Pincian Hill in Rome. She intended to explicate the symbolism of the fountain in a special edition of a book to be called The Canticle of the Fountain: “Design for a fountain of the Water of Life, inspired by certain passage of the Divine Comedy of Dante, Paradiso XXX & XXXII.”
Works in Woodmere’s Collection
Works in Other Collections
Proposal for Fountain: "Eve at the Feet of Mary," 1945-49, by Violet Oakley (Philadelphia Museum of Art: Bequest of Edith Emerson, 1984, https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/76757.html?mulR=510970543|2)
"Redemption," Sketch for Eve at the feet of Mary, from the mural series Great Women of the Bible, c. 1945-48, by Violet Oakley (Collection of La Salle University Art Museum: Gift of the Violet Oakley Memorial Foundation, http://artcollection.lasalle.edu/Obj2349)
Canticle of the Fountain “Design for a fountain of the Water of Life" (Mock-Up for a Special Edition Book), cover, including a Drawing of Eve at the Feet of Mary (Proposal for a Fountain) (Philadelphia and Rome, 1937), by Violet Oakley (Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Theodore T. Newbold and Helen Cunningham, 2009, https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/306554.html?mulR=942421592|1#)
Canticle of the Fountain “Design for a fountain of the Water of Life" (Mock-Up for a Special Edition Book), including a Drawing of Eve at the Feet of Mary (Proposal for a Fountain) (Philadelphia and Rome, 1937), by Violet Oakley (Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Theodore T. Newbold and Helen Cunningham, 2009, https://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/306554.html?mulR=942421592|1#)
"Redemption," Statue drawing: Eve at the feet of Mary, from the mural series Great Women of the Bible, c. 1945-48, by Violet Oakley (Collection of La Salle University Art Museum: Gift of the Violet Oakley Memorial Foundation, http://artcollection.lasalle.edu/Obj2400)
Historical Images
Related Works in Woodmere’s Collection
Composition Study for "The Redemption," from the mural series "Great Women of the Bible," First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, PA, c. 1945-1949, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Russell Harris, MD in honor of John Casavecchia, 2017)
Study of the Virgin Mary for "The Redemption," from the mural series "Great Women of the Bible," First Presbyterian Church in Germantown, PA, c. 1945-48, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 1957)
Study of Trevi Fountain, Rome, date unknown, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015)
Composition study for Paradiso: The White Rose and the Tenth Heaven, "The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri" stained glass window, Robert J. Collier House, c. 1910-12, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015)
Illuminated text study for "Woman – lei Miracoli della sua vita," date unknown, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015)
Illuminated text study [Page 2?] for "Woman – lei Miracoli della sua vita," date unknown, by Violet Oakley (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2015)
More from
The Church
