attributed to Raffaelo RomanelliItalian
Esmeralda
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Esmeralda” now? Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 20A, Washington, D.C. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Washington, D.C., United States
RoomLuce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 20A
Closed· opens at 11:30 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
The gypsy girl Esmeralda was the hunchback Quasimodo’s love interest in Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a book so popular that it made a hero out of its author. In the novel, Esmeralda is the victim of a coward’s rage and sentenced to death by hanging, and only the love of the deformed Quasimodo can save her. The story ends when he dies, defending Esmeralda from an angry mob.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1998.43.1
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
