Three struggling figures

This composition of three struggling figures was conceived by Stevens in about 1844, although the purpose, or indeed exact subject, remains unknown. The plaster from which this bronze was cast in about 1912 was given to the Museum in 1912 by the artist Charles Ricketts (1866-1931). Various titles have been proposed for the composition, including The Massacre of the Innocents, but it is possible that Stevens, like Auguste Rodin after him, favoured experimenting with dynamic groups, which were not always related to a particular subject, or with a specific context in mind. Stevens is the best represented British sculptor in the V&A's collection, and one of the leading figures in nineteenth-century design and art in Britain. This group vividly demonstrates his sense of the human body and the integral power of the composition, regardless of subject. Its unfinished quality is perhaps especially appealing to twenty-first century viewers.