This sculpture is by Randolph Rogers, a prominent American sculptor working in Rome. The subject was inspired by Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s popular novel The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), which tells the story of Nydia, a blind flower-seller who is the servant of an abusive innkeeper in Pompeii in 79 CE. Nydia is rescued by Glaucus, with whom she falls in love. The novel reaches its climax when Mount Vesuvius erupts, filling Pompeii with toxic smoke and ash. Nydia leads Glaucus and his sweetheart to safety. Upon realizing that her love for Glaucus is unrequited, Nydia drowns herself in despair.

The tremendous popularity of Rogers’s Nydia was fueled in part by travelers on the Grand Tour of Europe who visited the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as by the era’s fascination with romantic and moralizing narrativesfeaturing brave and virtuous heroines.