Aletta Jacobs

About this artwork.

This is the only monument in Groningen dedicated to a woman, namely to doctor and activist Aletta Jacobs. 
 
Sculptor Theresia van der Pant has struck the robust appearance of Jacobs well: the portrait shows determination. It's one of her late works. She allowed more fingerprints and traces of modelling tools in the cast later in her career. She did not use models but so-called “thugs” photographs, which show the person portrayed from the front and the side. Van der Pant looked at these snapshots for a long time, without making any significant sketches or preliminary studies. Then she worked from memory. In a similar way she also studied living animal models for her sculptures.
 

Aletta Jacobs was the first female doctor to graduate and the first PhD student in the Netherlands. In 1871 the daughter of a general practitioner, born in Hoogezand, started her medical studies at the University of Groningen, where she obtained her doctorate in 1879. She established her practice as a doctor in Amsterdam, where she did important work in the field of women's health care and birth control for many years. Jacobs was also active in the fight for women's suffrage and world peace.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Theresia van der Pant

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1988

• Art type
  Monument, Freestanding sculpture, Bust

• Material
  Bronze

• Dimensions
  h 2,27 x b 0,53 x d 0,40 m; sokkel h 1,50 m