Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-14
GEORGE PEABODY.
Concerning Story's Statue Of the
Philanthropist.


5000
PailanthrOpist.
From the Saturday Review.
It wa surely not a very brilliant or
appropriate idea, however well in
tended, 10 commemorate Mr.. Pea
body by q large bronze portrait statue.
Whether It be that these monuments
have been hitherto almost wholly re-
served for men great in war, or states
man-hip, or station, or whether it be
from the pompOus ard dem0ustratiTe
character OF sucha monument in itself,
the public efiigy seems uneOngenial To
the noble bur quiet beuevolence, to
the almost private aud nOiseless vir-
tues which have placed Mr. Peabody
higher on the roll Of true honor than
many among the brazen company
whom he has lately iVined. An Crna-
mental bnilding Of some public use,
decorated az pleasure with sculpture
OF painting, would surely have been
better; or, Il utility be held, (as, per-
haPs, if justly may to derOgate a lit
tie rom the h1HOTiGe character of a
memorial, som architecture OF a me-
mortal, some architectural design like
those which still exist in Asia Minor
or india would have been on all ac-
counts preferable Some such reflec-
ton at least, we fancy, many a spec
tatOr is likely to make when, at the
back Of the Exchange, he comes upon
the Peabody monument As when
the curtain draws up in 4 domestic
Drama "A m~iddle-aged man il diseOv-
cred lOungiRg back in a luxurious
armchair, his right leg and boot high
in the air, his hands negligentiy dis
played, his e0at-iaps symmetrically
depending, and his whole appearance
precisely that Of a man who has just
been arranged by a provincial photo
grapher for a hrst-class carte de visite,
and, rs in q photograph, we have
every detail literally repeated, the
maker would recognize the heel Of the
boot, and the uphOlsterer the back
cushion Of the chair; coat and tTOw-
sers and cut Of whisker, we are ure at
once must be likenesse5; and all that
We respectfully refuse to accept as true
to the original Is a je-He-sGis-96Oi Of
vulgar nuntiness and breecheS-pOcket
seiEeOmplacency which pervades the
figure like an aroma, and is the final
impression on the spectators memory.
When it was unveiled and the speech
Is made, the artist, by way Of his ora
ton, pointed to the statue-a pleas
ant and ingenious piece of rhetoric.
1t reminded n of MaRlius at the
Capitol; OF of Wren's 81 BgO8laLeHtLHI
qJRTis. But when n actually sur
veys the "speech, " il IS hardly posi-
Bile to credit Mr.. Story with the elC-
quenee common among his country
men; in uhis ease at least, he appears
60 Us but an Indifferent orator il
bronze. Why is this clever work so
unsatisfactory? IL is not slOvenly; it
is not ~geneFaliZed; 10 has a look OF
likeness; vet ali that the spectator Is
likely To feel, if his feelings are aroused
at all, Is a touch Of pity for Mr.. Pea
body. From the statues by Nj. Story
which drew the masses in the Exhibi-
ton of 1852 one might have expected
here a figure aiming more or less at
ideal or Pncticll manner, something
which might recall the ancient stvle.
Its weak side ll10king TO the "CsO-
patra" and "Sibyl") would hive
been in want Of detiniteness and thor
Oughness; tame surfaces, convention
allied d~rapery-in short, a literary
rather than a scuIptuTesque treatment.
The Peabody, ON the contrary, Is I'm
ished up with great care, and is hon
/ estly true to modern dress; it has no
trace OF dignity or id~ealiZatiOn, but
tries to render the man as he sat-; It is
wholly literal and realistic; il is al
most as Photographic Is if il had been
modelled by q" phOtO-SCulpture." And
il would be curious, had we space. by
a glance at Mr.. StOry'5 other works,
including his literary attempts, ia
trace the substantial identity which
runs through them; the eleyerness,
the versatility, the want Of thorough
ness and originality in anything, the
lively u3sOacidtcg, the grOtesque mis-
takes-in a word, the snowy and SUI
: perficial side OF American cultivation,
Of which he has been unable to divest
himself. To this absence of real power
aud knowledge We must ultimately
assign the incapacity OF the statue be-
fore rs tO please or penetrate the spec
tatOr. Mr.. Story has wished to make
a real likeness, for which we thank
him; but, lacking thOr0ughness in
art TO accomplish this very difficult
task. all he has managed is to be pho
tOgraphic. Now this is wholly differ
ent from H'rpeilism as different from
it as the vague generalization -
which elsew here 50 often aftiicts Us.
a true portrait is not the man as no
looks when posed before a camera, but
the man as he is reflected in the mir
rOr of a real artists mind, and recrea-
ted By him in paint or marble. Such
a portrait will be accurate than
the photograph itself to the mans ac-
tuaI Appearance, to his dress not less
than his features; yet in some mystic
ri0u5 way, while these elements are
preserved, they Will be subOFdinated
to those inner laws Of beauty and dig
nifty which underlie what Is called
d" STYLE" and will also be so managed
thai the expression and soul OF the
man Will be the prominent objects,
the final impression on the behOlder.
One will hardly be able 10 say OF such
a figure whether il Is more /" real y or
more "ideal; :" il will be somehow eX-
quisitely poised between these n
iicting but equally essential teuden-
I cies; whilst perhaps not Ike the man
as we have seen him at any given
moment, il will yet be Tar truly
aud profoundly like him. Even the
uniformed spectator viii feel this;
but how the vital fusion has been ef-
fected Is the secret Of the artist. 1t Is
Just that which, within his sphere,
4 makes him also a creator. MOI can
he leGitimatciy and strictly aspire to
that honorable name who Is not in
possession of this mysterious power.
Let him be never so clever and eulti-
waited, the pet of drawing-rO0ms and
~dilettantes, besieged by commissions
and enrolled IN every academy under
heaven, all these suifrages are set aside
in q moment if he lacks the n thing
needluL. lie may be adopted by the
world, but Art counts him not among
her children.