Savannah weekly echo., 1884-02-03
I'm A BIG SERPENTS COILS.
STRANGE gTo1Y or A PIECE OF
1TATUA1Y.
The Sculpt0r's Model a Reautiful
Girl I'm the Coils of q boa COnstric.
tor Ten Feet Long.

The SculptOr's Model a Eseautiful
Girl I'm the Coils Of q Boa Constric.
tor Ten Feet Long.
Theodore Tilton writes thus to the
New York Independent regarding Robert
Barrett Browning's statue of Dryope and
Apollo: The history of the making of
this statue-in other words how the
strange work was daily carried on-is so
interesting that it deserves to be told.
The artist, for the execution of his design.
needed, of course, two models-6rst n
strong but hssome woman, capable of
gracefully supporting the forty or fifty
pounds weight of the huge creature who
was to hang upon her limbs and side;
next, gigantic but tractable boa con-
strictor, nearly twice the length of the
girls frame. Mr.. Browning was
unwilling to invent either his
damsel or his python; he demanded both
from nature. His Dryope he found in an
Italian girl of much beauty, both of face
and form, and with a skin so lovely that
since he cannot portray it in sculpture
he will shortly essay it on canvas. His
python came to him by happy gift of
fortune. A year ago, when the statue
was begun, there happened to be in Paris
woman who by vocation was snake
charmer, and who had in her possession
a genuine spotted boa from Senegal, ten
feet in length. This great serpent had,
by various moral and other influences.
been disciplined into subordination and
good behavior Mr.. Browning intro
duced the snake-charmer and the charmed
snake into his studio, greatly to the
terror of his neighbors in the Rue Notre
Dame dies Champs. His Italian Drvope
was at first badly frightened; vet on
repeatedly witnessing the other woman's
power over the willing reptile, she
at last permitted the symbolic Apollo
to coil himself about her person. Dav
by day, for several days, she endured
this ordeal, until what was at first an
ordeal became at last an exhiaration.
The artist then purchased the snake, dis
missed the snake-charmer, and, having
meanwhile learned the simple art of
snake-charming, (Which, he says, is
hardly an art at alD, had no difficulty in
making an advantageous use of the rep
tile as a serviceable model In fact, the
python, of his own subtitle accord. when
placed at the feet of the girl as she stood
posed, would slowly climb up her BODY
and conveniently stop when his head was |
near her lips. The pleasant warmth of /
her breath comforted his GOODNESS and |
induced him to keep his head usually in |
the very position which the artists design
required. AS the snake found this living
more genial and agreeable
than his inanimate blanket, he would
often hang motionless upon the brave
girl and bask in her breath for minutes at
time, or so long as she could bear his
great weight without fatigue. Mean
while the busy artist was observing the
contented serpent and faithfully record
ing every snake curve and fold.
The closing scene in this pythons bio
graphy was an event so sudden and sor-
rowful that it deserves to be mournfully
chronicled. When the boa was no longer
needed by the sculptor as model, the
creature was still left in the
studio as distinguished guest, having
l big box all to himself. One day he
was mortally bruised by the accidental
falling of the lid of the box upon his
leck while his head was hanging over
he edge. His fate was almost a death
)y the guillotine He lived few davs
md died. The girl had meanwhile be-
'ome so attached to the snake that,
when he breathed his last, she shed tears. .
What more could Dryopc herself have
lone if Apollo could have known NOR
ality