Night
Part of a series of sculptures representing different times of day, the reclining body and opened hands of this figure this small bronze evoke the complete relaxation of deep sleep, a fitting portrayal of the work’s theme, Night. The artist, Mario Korbel, may have drawn inspiration for the figure’s pose from Michelangelo’s monumental statue Night (1525-1527), carved for the Medici Chapel in Florence. This is the first casting of the work from the model.
Korbel hoped at one point to install a more complete program of life-size statuary around the grounds of Cranbrook House. Scheduling complications and the financial constraints imposed by the Great Depression prevented him from completing his vision. Of the three works associated with times of day at Cranbrook House, Korbel's Dawn (CEC 460) was the only one to be cast at life-size and installed in the gardens. A small cast of Nocturne (CEC 66) completes the series at Cranbrook House.
Mariam Hale
2023-2025 Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
March 2024
ProvenanceGeorge Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth (1921-1949)
Cranbrook Foundation (1949-1973)
Cranbrook Educational Community (1973-present)
Credit LineCranbrook Center for Collections and Research
Cultural Properties Collection, Founders Collection
Bequest of George Gough Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth through the Cranbrook Foundation
Medium / MaterialsBronze
SignedEngraved: Mario Korbel / Prague 1921/ No 1 ©
GenreObject TypeStatues
Select Bibliography and Archival Citation(s)Appraisal by Stalker & Boos (1975). Series II: Appraisals and Inventories. George Gough and Ellen Warren Scripps Booth Financial Records (1981-02). Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. Cranbrook Archives, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
There are no works to discover for this record.