Rose the Organ Grinder by Ruotolo in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2022

Title: Rose, the Organ Grinder

Maker: Onorio Ruotolo (American, Cervinara, Italy 1888–1966 New York)

Date: 1914

Medium: Bronze

Dimensions: 13 × 6 × 6 1/4 in. (33 × 15.2 × 15.9 cm)

Credit Line: Gift of Bruce and Susan Lueck, 2021

Accession Number: 2021.108

Among familiar musical street entertainers at the turn of the twentieth century were organ grinders. Like Ruotolo himself, many were recently arrived Italian immigrants. Here, "Rose" holds a barrel organ strapped across her shoulder and cranks a handle that moves air through the instrument’s pipes to produce sound. While the artist portrayed the organ grinder with sympathy, he also may have been commenting on the panhandling of urban performers that was widely viewed as a social nuisance.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/852633