Recent study of sculpture suggests the singular presence and power the medium holds for its makers, patrons, and audiences. In particular, the role of sculpture as a commemorative and connective tool has become evident in debates about monuments and cultural patrimony. Sculpture inhabits experiential spaces; it manipulates notions of history, forges bonds between distant places, and promotes future actions.

The Hood Museum of Art's exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400-1750 contributes to the field's understanding of sculpture in early modern daily life in Europe. This publication includes 5 thematic essays, 99 extended catalogue entries, and an illustrated checklist of 114 additional objects from the important collection of early modern sculpture at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth.