Washington sentinel. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1855, 1853-10-21
Communicated.
An Appeal for Houdon's Washington.


ton of the most remarkable efforts Of ancient
and modern art, | feel constrained to call yonr
attention, as conductors Of public press and
natives of Virginia, and, therefore, guardians
OF this inestimable specimen OF portraiture and
| artistic skill, to what must be most perilous
condition of Houdon's statue, if have rightly
read a circular in the columns of your paper,
dated October 10th. Every Nirginian, know
ing its accuracy and the circumstances of its
creation, must feel that all other statues, based
on this original however talented may be their
| authors, must fall into utter insignificance in
the comparison. The magnificent testimonials
by Crawford, although the result of the highest
order OF artistic skill; the creations of Chantry
and Greenough, although full Of sculptural ma
Jesty, are like the great obelisk ut ashington,
but splendid testimonials of our national pride,
whilst this statue alone can touch the heart of
every American; this alone can bring him face
| TO face with the immortal original.
Long ago, / saw the famous statue of Vol
taire, by Houdon, and felt how fortunate was
| the choice made by the commonwealth of Vir-
gina of the artist who was to perpetuate the
form and features Of the hero, and when, in al
ter years, stood before this sublime represen-
taton, and therein saw the man himself as he
led our armies and our councils, the soldier
and the statesman literally petriffed before me,
| there shot through me the thrill of his actual
presence, which nd other portraiture on earth
ever could produce Besides its high artistic
merits, the circumstances of its production
alone insure its careful preservation. We Of
the present dayshould remember that this statue
is for all time, the heirloom Of Virginia, to be
most carefully and jealousy guarded and safely
| transmitted. | feel sure that such has ever
been the sentiment of the Legislature of Vir
ginia. Yet may be pardoned for doubling
the expediency of their plans for the safe trans
mission OF the artists labors to posterity. They
recall to me an apologize familiar, am sure,
to your readers, and yet SO opposite that its
repetition is appropriate.
To a fond father, the death Of an only and
beloved son had been predicted as inevitable
ut certain time, and all the means commanded
by his great wealth were put in action to arrest
the dreaded fate. After much anxiety and I'M
certainty the parent sent his son under the
care of a faithful servant to a desert island,
where, remote from all danger, the impending
doom might be arrested. On the fatal day, and
whilst aching melon, which hung above his
head in the cave of refuge, the guardian fell,
and the knife open in his hand transfxed the
heart the unhappy youth. The hour 81 danger
past, joyfully repairing to the retreat, the de-
spairing parent finds to his horror that the very
means by which he had hoped to arrest the
doom hao only served to accomplish the des-
tiny of his child. Well meant as was the action
| Of the legislature, fear much that the means
| Of transmission they have adopted will only
serve to ensure the fate of the valued original.
Fearful of an accident to the statue, like that
| of the cour. house at Raleigh, it was certainly
expedient to permit a mould to be taken, from
which a copy could be made; yet, the proba-
n oh al,y al
occurrence. The State guard who PAGES day
and night before the statue, could, at the
slightest alarm, call the population of large
city to bold efforts for its rescue from all danger,
save that Of an earthquake. Yet, after all, it
was possibly the part of prudence to adopt this
method, in single instance.
Whilst on a visit to the north some years ago.
for the first time learned that such mould
had been made, from which cast for the Uni
versity of Cambridge was to have been taken.
This mould was most carefully made and at
great expense, BY one of Chantrey's best work
men. Why, then, was not this sufficient, as
every one knows that from it hundreds of ex-
cellent casts could he made? Why subject the
statue again to risk, to say the least, in order
to make that which already existed? In order
fully to appreciate the query, shall quote a
sentence from the circular referred to, which
"The marble was originally very coarse, and,
from constant absorption of moisture, has be-
come 50 soft as to be easily scrapcd by finger
nail" Now the question arises, how did be-
come 500 Was it from the masses of snow and
ice which fell through the broken sky-light?
The idea is absurd the hlt of the sword might
have been broken by such an accident, but no
other injury could possibly result. Let us, too,
glance at the worlds experience of the effects
of absorption of moisture in similar works.
Where were the LAGOON, the Apollo, the Venus,
the Antinous, and host of other antiquities for
centuries, but buried deeply in the earth, or at
IT, bottom of the Tiber! or older still, where
did layard find the gigantic statues of long lost
Nincyeh? Now, that these are as smooth, as
fine as polished as when they left the sculptor's
chisel, the whole world can testify. Although,
in some parts, less humid than our own eli
mate, one finds, throughout Italy, sculpture
which has been exposed for centuries to the
open air and its vicissitudes, and yet the only
impress of age is to be found in the increasing
darkness of the material
Those who have visited the damp crypt of
San Giovanni, in Laterano, and there beheld
the famous "dead Christ of Michael Angelo,
certainly have not remarked any injury to that
sculpture; nor would the Papal government, If
there was any danger, thus expose this exquisite
masterpiece to certain destruction. Antique
and modern architecture and monumental cree
tons throughout the world can be referred to,
to show how little moisture has to do with
making marble so soft that it " can be scratched
with the finger nail One moments reflection
would convince any mind that TO other sources
must we turn for an explanation of this phe-
nomenon Even if moisture did produce such
an effect, the closed and warm rotunda of the
State Capitol can hardly be considered place
for the exercise of such disintegrating infu-
ence, and in so short a time, too, as has elapsed
since the erection of this statue. The coarse
ness Of the marble certainly never occurred to
me when examining the statue and it seems
most Extraordinary that an artist of Houdon's
knowledge, who had always worked in the best
material, and could always command it, should
have selected inappropriate marble for a work
which was to stamp his genius in the western
world. / fear that to the process Of casting
from it We may trace this crumbling condition
| nc tho Ut,,,n o,d &c cuch ehould ho tho casa