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William Fuller Curtis (1873–1938)
1911 Burnt Wood Panel

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Untitled By William Fuller Curtis, 1911 Pyrography and metallic leaf on relief carved wood panel (Unframed) panel is 18 in. wide by 24 in. tall. Inscription in Latin, upper left quadrant: FOCUS OMNIS DOMUS MEUM TEMPLUM EST A translation of the Latin inscription, upper left quadrant: THE HEARTH OF EVERY HOUSE IS MY SHRINE

Untitled By William Fuller Curtis, 1911 Signature and date, lower left: WILLIAM FULLER CURTIS A.D. MCMXI.

American artist William Fuller Curtis (1873–1938) like J. William Fosdick before him, studied art at the Académie Julian in Paris.

The exotic panel displayed here was recently discovered thanks to owner David Antonson, who is considering offering it for sale.

Research is underway to learn more about this work. At this time the E-Museum's Research Department considers this a picture of the Roman goddess Vesta or one of the Vestal Virgins, a popular theme in 19th and early 20th Century art. The translation of the Latin inscription has been much deliberated.

Thanks to Asker on the Internet we have the very satisfactory translation from Dollhaus, which not only seems plausible but also offers the grammatical breakdown from the Latin, as follows:

The hearth of every house is my shrine.
Focus = Nominative sing. = Fireplace, hearth, altar
Omnis domus = both genitive singular = of each/every house
Meum templum = nominative sing = My temple/shrine

The translation of the inscription would indicate that the subject of the panel is the goddess Vesta herself saying those words. However, despite much effort thus far, the task remains to discover the origin of the quotation itself and thus verify the subject of the panel.

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If you have either any questions to ask or any information to offer regarding this pyrography panel by William Fuller Curtis, please e-mail the owner David Antonson and the E-Museum Curator.

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