Death and the Sculptor

Wow, what a title. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw the title to this piece. So many things could be said by the title or by the piece itself. And what a beautiful sculpture! There’s something fantastic about French’s sculptures, something alive and haunting. Just stare at the picture for a moment. Can you imagine the impact if you were actually standing in front of the real sculpture? Imagine it. It’s fantastic.

Eager to find out the why behind this sculpture, I started browsing. Martin Milmore, was another sculptor who immigrated to the United States from Ireland at the age of seven. He learned how to carve in wood and stone from his brother, Joseph. On an interesting side note, he carved a bust of Henry Wordsworth Longfellow at the age of nineteen. He died early, at thirty-eight, and his brother died three years later. This sculpture is a monument to them, and marks their gravestone in its bronze form in the Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts.

In 1893 French was commissioned to make a copy of the sculpture in marble for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sculpture wasn’t started until after WWI, and was finished in 1926. The sculpture is currently at the Met, along with more of French’s sculptures.

“Come, stay your hand, Death to the sculptor cried,
Those who are sleeping, have not really died.
I am the answer to the stone your fingers
have carved, the baffling riddle that still lingers
Sphinx unto curious men. So do not fear
this gentle touch. I hold dark poppies here
whose languid leaves of lethargy will bring
deep sleep to you and an incredible spring!
Come with your soul, from earth’s still blinded hour.
Mount by my hand the high, the timeless tower!
Through me the night and morning are made one,
your questions answered, your long vigil done.
Who am I? On far paths no foot has trod,
some call me Death, but others call me God.”
-Epitaph, Milmore Memorial

Can't think of a better note to end on.
Until later,
Penny Lane

Thanks to these sites for the info and pics!
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/dc_french/angel_of_death/dcfrench_angel_of_death.html
http://my-bankruptcy-help.com/?b=Daniel_Chester_French
http://www.yeodoug.com/resources/dc_french/milmore/dcfrench_milmore.html
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/26.120
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Milmore
http://www.bellamorte.net/epitaphs.html

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