New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-10-19
A CURIOUS STORY OF CARRARA
A SCULPTOR'S MADNESS


From The Pail Mall Gszette.
e ssSy q e mao : sculptor % wa
s ss"s sI God sloss .s .
s ssasd t hm =; ana kind; b.t At a.t q
Ing scSpo vent The Sas snfss s ss hsd .1a
s'Tys TOOK sSs him TO Rome There two n
al The young ,cSpors au iss sR :sS:
Ing Papal bcncdction In st. Peters tho spirit ashted
% s sry nS @ +: .sas
Christian. but lost soul. From that time he became
S,mos ssvssey tscIturn and n; mood: volens
He was ocss e. ysn. n marble !. h {. ss ss 4:
he worked In his solitude like . demon One dsy =
saw .u sr xa Hs rsn on n.
seek for water. When he entered no was a. ons
stricken dumb. for before him was the most gio,WN
The spsnlards Venus seemed alive her % SssnSG
sSdy sioWsd with nis' 50 sof. and rosy secnss
T. her face, and that Eer eyes moved upon him scsr
Well Fray Antonio was soon brought to. but he no
Longer seemed the same man For days he wandered
throwing up his arms like drowning man. Often h
ciomo TO the high places OF the quarrics where tho
ous s sSo snd syrfs p
pd a among Ss eSsS @ m0 e., ";
when resting at midday. would watch him In silence
too much awed by his madness to jeer at him eyel
among themselves. and at the same time enthrallcA
IN watching him and his antics. Less than week
had elapsed. when. after days absence In Genos
moned one OF The foremen and dozen qaa RI
He bad also chartered one Of the sxox teams used fo
the men arrived at the lonely broken down old house
on ne mountains slope, they saw the heavy team
standing waiting but with the rough block; upset
fho faaya
Itself. Fray Antonio astonlshed them by his words
-" Men, said he. "yon may or may not believe mo.
shortly see Is demon incarnate and has gained some
strange and subtle power over me. There Is bnt one
that my soul Is lost unless bury her deep In the
mountain whence came the evil marble Of which she
!, wrought said this to her last light hoping 70
break her spell over me- but after had blown out
the Ton lantern r and turned to CO. heard her whisper
do what it will!' The foreman tried to dissuade
Fray Antonio from his purpose but without suseeSs
70 assist; During the blasting Of the steep siOps
70 carry his statue back to the hifIcave, thrust her
Snd o Ts h % by se
was almost forgotten, when suddenly he reappeared.
~ een 90
was, refused to live in Every one thought he had
sculpture Hs's again Hn but after little it became evdens
that he neither moulded the clay nor handled the
chlsel. All day long he wandered idly about and
the place where his Venus was buried One stormy
A5oat midnight Of the quarry folk living in the
n. sm asy heard s s a' a se
| awakened by severe though momentary earthquake.
Nothing was seen OF Fray Antonio after that and u
ok aG i not been for
mysterious sounds-strahge moaning cries. and even
Soc Of Ing ,pd where the yn IN 'Ss
Some months elapsed and il was firmly believed that
by her wtchcrat the Venus had snathed the sculptor
to DEATH and that he was entombed In the nlllcave
The head folk grew ana q; the best ,n way S
side. determined to blast away the boulder' ana
destroy the cavern and the Venus with .n;,,u ~:
story fiat to bis dying day he could never FORGET
torn the root ana one side Of the cavern Isht "a
Venus. and isins across her feet tho emsci.ted
sium at that. for YOU must know, sgnor, tina. W
italians have peculiar horror Of dead body PsreS:
larry OF one that has not had Christian burial Inc
chief religious man and he did not wish
that the poor sculptor should remain without word
Of grace he gave orders that rope should be passed
round tile body,s legs and that it should then a
drawn away. Knowing how supcrstitIous the men
were he determined to destroy the Venus. for even
If they said more Of her than that she brought
had luck. he knew how troublesome they would become
But no one would stir to fulfil the command till at
last my grandfather mustered up and slipped
rope round the lower part Of the body Of the corpse
Then several took hold OF the h.ther end and pulled
with might and main. Alas none had noticed that
the right arm Of Fray Antonio was twihed ronnd me
feet OF the VEINS that the first Jerk caused her
to sway to and fro. The next moment she fell and
oil the verge Of the incline that led to dark narrow
PERCEPTIONS hollow. from whose profound depths came
sound of splashing, the stones and single fell
with dull thud into the water, downward she rolled,
dragging with Or showing before her the body Of FRAY
Antonio. Before anything cond be done she and
her victim disappeared down the narrow abyss.
There hosrse reverberation, a sursng splash.
and then all over, though there were some ready
solemnly to swear that they heard evil laughter and
| dcspairing groans. Signor Emilio Castelbianco, tho
chief sent for priest. who read the services
| OF the Church the unfortunate Fray Antonio,
and then exercised and cursed the evil spirit who had
been embodied in the statue. Well signor. that Is
all my story But though Wild cries and lamentations
were heard nightly no longer, quarryman knows
how twice each year Frav Antonio cries ont IN his
| thialdom-once at midnight at st. Johns eve. and
| once at the death Of the old year. What signor,
| the story bears a certain resemblance 10 the old
| German legend Of Venus and Tannhauseri That may
be: know nothing Of the Germans or their legends.
But havc not told YOU how my grandfather the
| evil Venus, and how he knew those who had beheld
her thralling eyes and heard her hollow daughters