Modeled 1958; cast 1958

Cantate Domino

English, 1903 - 1975

Religious themes began to appear in Barbara Hepworth’s work in the 1950s. This vertical form consists of two open diamond shapes, the lower one more compact and the upper larger and heavier, but open at its apex. The upwardly-extended form conjures mental images including the tendrils of a seed pod and a pair of human hands raised up in prayer. Hepworth encouraged an interpretation linking this sculpture’s organic dynamism with spiritual energy. The title, which is Latin for "O Sing unto the Lord," is taken from the opening of Psalm 98 in the Hebrew Bible, a hymn that praises a victorious God.