HUNT, William Morris
(b. 1824, Brattleboro, Vermont, d. 1879, Appledore, New Hampshire)

The Horses of Anahita or The Flight of Night

c. 1848-50
Plaster, tinted, 47 x 72 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Aredvi Sura Anahita is the Avestan language name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure, venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. The theme of Anahita occupied Hunt intermittently throughout his career. He made first pencil sketch, then high-relief sculpture, and later mural painting in the Assembly Chamber of the New York State Capitol in Albany.