Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1846-05-28
The Eve of Powers.

We have heard much of this beautiful
work, the first ideal statue of the great
american sculptor work planned be.
lore Powers went to Italy. but perfected
heneatii the glowing sun and the genial
influence OF that reg ion of the arts. the
beautiful land of the lslorenlne. One of
me simplest descrip tons of this mast
successful creation is given in a recep,lv
punished volume entitled .Scenes and
Thoughts IN Europe" by George n. Cal.
vert, young American traveller. Tie
ariist has chosen TO represent our erea,
| primal mother, at the moment before eat.
ing The apple. when she dal,bera,., no.
tween obedience and disGbcdience rbs
figure is above the average height. nm.
draped aud nearly erect. The only sun.
port II has from without is a broken stem
| by The side OF the left leg, Representing
The tree whence the fruit has ius, been
plucked. On this leg is thrown Tie weight.
the other being slightly ben, a, the knee
The head, inclined to the right, follow,
the eyes. which are fixed upon the annie.
! held IN the right hand, raised To the level
OF The breast. The left arm, hangs by the
side, the lief! hand holding ,wie of the
tree with two apples and the leaves attach.
Ell. The hate. parted in the middle and
thrown behind the ears. falls in comoac,
mass on the back. Round the outer edoe
OF the crr ular plot Of grass and flower,
which Is the sole basis of The statue. coil.
The serpent. who rears his head within a
lew inches of the right leg, looking up.
ward howard the face Of Eve. Intent and
tranquil. Eve stands within the coil Of the
serpent whose smooth bui fierv folds and
crest depict animal fierceness and con,ra.,
deeply with the female humanity above
him. B"'h for moral and physical effect.
saws calvert. the best moment il chosen.
the awful pause between obedience and
dsobe'ilence. Her fresh feet PRESSING
the flowers of Eden, Eve sill in her innn.
cent nak"dness. is fascinated agains, her
| pnrer wlll-'he mother and type of man.
KIND. within whose bosom is ever wapino
me conflict between good and evil What
irllness combined with what sim plicitv in
this conception. hespeaking the richest
resources Of imagination under guidance
OF the severest purity Of taste.
In executing his Eve, Powers has had
twenty or thirty models. From one. he
took an ANGLE, from another a shoulder,
fragmen. from flank Of third, and so
on throughout. extracting his own pre-
conceived image piece by piece out of
Nature. From such labor even good
artist would recoiI. bafll-d. dishearlened:
bu, the supreme genius Of Powers seizipe
each scrap OF perfection, rejected all The
rest, and so. out Of score of models. he
re compounded one Of Nature's own orig.
mails. The organs Of animal life seem Al
| play within that elastic trunk; there is
smnn,h pulsa,ion beneath that healthy
ro'undlly of limb. The capacity and
wonderful nature of the human form GIL
The mud as you gaze al his union of
i"rce. ilghtness. aud bnoyani grace. In
spite oil that smooth feminine roupdnpss
OF mould, such visible power and SPRING..
ness are IN the frame and limbs, ,ha, the
figure makes you think Of Eve as bound.
ing over shrub and rivule,, dazzling
picture Of joyous beauty.
The head of Eve is new head. Az
il is beautiful. ii is Grecisn; but i, recalls
no Greek model. Nor Venus. nor Juno.
nor Niobe, can claim that she helned
to nurse ii. Not back to any known
form does it carry the mind; il summons
II TO compass new one. L, is a fresh
emanaiion from the deep bosom Of Art.
In form and expression. in feature and in
contour. in the blending Of beauties into a
radiant unity. it is new Ideal, as pure
as it is inexhauslible. TO the hollow Of a
foot, TO the nail Of finger, every part is
finished with the mos, aborions minute.
ness, yet nowhere hardness. From her
scat,erd stores Of beauty. Nature supplied
the details; with an infallble eve the
arts. culls them and transfers them with a
hand whose firm precision is ever guided
by grace. The Natural and the Ideal
here blend into one act. their essences
in,erfused for the unfolding of full bios
som of beauty. VIVA, terms are ef, TO
speak of the Venus Of the Tribunel None
stronger are needed Than such as are used
in speaking of the Eve Of Powers. The
Eve need fear comparison with none of
Arts favori,e children.-Bos. Transcript
Touching. A certain lady had two
i children, girls, both young. and nearly OF
!. | Il, A. II. l.