' The Corinthian Maid ' Joseph Wright of Derby ' English (1734-1797) Oil on canvas, circa 1782-1784. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Dibutades was the daughter of a potter in ancient Corinth, a city in Greece whose wares first helped establish the fame of Greek pottery. Hoping to keep a record of her boyfriend ,who was departing the city , Dibutades traced the outline of his shadow on a wall while he slept. Her father filled in this silhouette with clay and fired it in his kiln. It became the first relief sculpture. The figure of the youth is modeled after a sleeping Endymion that Joseph Wright had drawn from a relief in Rome . He spent almost two years there , recording ancient monuments and sculpture in his sketchbooks. The sparse furnishings, garments , and even the woman's hairstyle are all based on archaeological evidence. The figures are arranged with a carefully measured rhythm along a narrow stage, as in a freeze or vase painting. A master of artificial illumination, Wright concealed a hanging lamp behind the curtain, suggesting the source of the beams that cast the youth's shadow. The painting was commissioned by Josiah Wedgwood , a pioneer of pottery manufacturing in England. His pottery copied the shapes of ancient vessels as well as their decoration, borrowing motifs from ancient glass, cameos , and relief carvings. Wedgewood's fired clay vessels , decorated with low relief's , can be seen as the descendents of Dibutade's first relief sculpture.