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Názov:
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George Washington
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Umelec: |
Baron Carlo Marochetti
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This head of the first president of the United States is a fragment of the full-scale model for the colossal equestrian statue which Marochetti sent for exhibition in the New York Crystal Palace in 1853. When it opened, the statue formed a very conspicuous feature, under the central rotunda. When the palace was remodelled by Phineas T. Barnum in 1854, it was removed from this position to a less favourable one. A guide published after the remodelling of the exhibition in 1854 referred to "a happy second thought" which had caused it to be "thrown into the background". The space where it had once stood was now occupied by a fountain, featuring a twelve foot high personification of America (How to See the New York Crystal Palace. A Concise Guide to the Principle Objects in the Exhibition as remodelled in 1854, New York 1854, p.14 and p.17). The local criticisms of the equestrian sculpture were from the outset severe, and probably reflected the threat that this work represented to the national school of sculptors. A publication bringing together articles on the palace from the New York Tribune, contained the statement that "It is bad, unqualifiedly and entirely; it is beneath mediocrity, and yet it seems to be a source of pleasure to many humbugged people" and went on to find fault with every aspect of it". (Art and Industry as represented in the Exhibition et the Crystal Palace, New York 1853-54, from New York Tribune, revised and edited by Horace Greely, New York, 1853). An 1854 publication on the palace and its contents, stated that "Baron Marochetti has the advantage of being the first in the field", at least insofar as he had brought his statue "under the observation of Washington's countrymen", but boasted that American sculptors were following close at his heels. Thomas Crawford had already produced a colossal equestrian statue of Washington for the Memorial to the Sons of the Revolution for Richmond Virginia. This had already been cast in Munich. Clark Mills had also received a commission for an equestrian Washington for the Washington Capitol. (The World of Science and Industry Illustrated from Examples in the New York Exhibition 1853-54, ed. Prof Silliman and C.R. Goodrich, New York, 1854). Marochetti's Washington was destroyed when the Crystal Palace burned down on 5 Oct. 1858, so we are fortunate to have this reminder of it. The plaster head formed part of a donation to the South Kensington made by the Baronne Marochetti, after her husband's death at the very end of 1867. The museum has succeeded in getting rid of most of this quite substantial donation. Now, this head of Washington and a full length plaster model for the statue of Rossini at Pesaro are all that remain of it.
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Materiál: |
Plaster
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Zakončenie: |
Unassigned |
Leštidlo: |
- |
Technika: |
Cast |
Štýl: |
Unassigned
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Umiestnenie: |
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, , ,
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Farby: |
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Rok: |
1853 |
Výška: |
0 metres |
Šírka: |
0 metres |
Hĺbka: |
0 metres |
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Kľúč: |
5763 |
Katalógové číslo: |
5763 |
Katalógové číslo: |
5763 |
Počet Videní: |
2970 |
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