| TITLE
| John Keats |
| CREATOR | unknown |
| DIMENSIONS | 27 x 15 x 9 in. |
| ORIGINAL FORMAT | Sculpture |
| MEDIUM | Plaster |
| PHYSICAL NOTE | This plaster sculpture is one of the 16 that sit atop the bookshelves in the library’s main hall. |
| LOCATION | Providence Athenæum: Main Library |
This bust of the English Romantic poet John Keats [1795-1821] is one of sixteen that circle the Athenæum’s main hall. It was donated to the library some time after James Phalen’s earlier 1840 donation of ten busts, though when is unknown.
Born in London, Keats was the oldest of four children, and lost his parents at an early age. In 1816 he became a licensed apothecary, but later decided to pursue poetry. Keats, perhaps best known for his “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, was heavily inspired by mythical and Classical themes. In 1819, Keats contracted tuberculosis, and died in Rome two years later at the age of twenty-five. His works had only been in publication for four years before his death.
The artist of this work is unknown, as is its date of creation. Keats is depicted here in a toga with his hair unruly, combining the style of his time with that of the era which so heavily influenced his writings.