The Savannah morning news., 1901-05-28
SCULPTOR WHO WILL CREATE THE
BUsTs OF BARLOW AND Nc
LAWS.
SKETCHES OF THE HEROES
SUBMITTED TO RELATIVES BEFORE
THE CLAY Is MODELLED.

COFrect MS Sketches, Dy NOn1er-
ence with the Families of His
subjects-WiII Begin Work Imme-
diately Upon His Return to New
YOrk-To BE THE Sculptor of the
Confederacy" ZOInay's Ambition.
His Bust of sam Davis.
George Julius Zolnay, the sculptor for
the Barlow and McLAws monuments,
which when completed, will ornament the
Bull and CASTOR street entrance to For
syth Park, spent few hours in Savan-
nah last night. He said the busts will
be completed and cast by next October.
Mr.. Zolnay reached the city on the KAN
sas City in the afternoon, and spent the
evening as the guest of Capt. D. G.
Purse, chairman of the Monument Com
mittee. At 10 o'clock the sculptor left
for Memphis.
The work that he has undertaken for
the Monument Committee. is that of per-
petuating in bronzes of heroic size. the
features of the two men who were chiefly
conspicuous among the band of gallant
Savannahians, who answered the Souths
call to arms. Mr.. Zolnay spoke with the
enthusiasm of the artist and with the
appreciation of his theme that comes from
a thorough sympathy with the Southern
cause.
The clay for the busts has already been
set up in the studio in New York and his
sketches have all been prepared. One
purpose of Mr.. Zolnay's trip South is to
submit the sketches to the surviving rel
atives and close friends of Gen. Barlow
and Gen. MeLaws, so that whatever i'm
projections there are in them may be
corrected, before he begins to model the
clay.
On his way back from Memphis, Mr..
zolnay will stop in Atlanta, where he will
meet Mrs. Seabrook, the widow, and Mrs.
Rees, the sister. of Gen. Barlow. He will
go over his sketches with them and learn
from them all he can of the physical APP
pearance and personal peculiarities of the
subject of his work. 1850 1ee4s-
From Atlanta he will return to Savan-
nah and will make similar critical com
parison of his sketches with, the recol-
lections of the family and friends of Gen.
McLaws. He hopes in this manner to OBJ
tain an absolutely accurate physical like
ness of each of the generals, which he
may reproduce in his clay and that even
tually will be perpetuated in the bronze of
the completed busts. He anticipates he
will complete the clay models sometime
In September and that during the follow
ing month the casting of the bronzes will
have been completed and the bGsts on abe
way to Savannah, to be mounted at the
Park entrance.
1t will require about this much time for
the completion of the pedestals the busts
are to surmount and II is now believed
that the unwilling Of the two monuments
will take place some time during the lat
ter part of October or the first of No
vember.
Mr.. Zolnay has been said to have an
ambition 10 be recognized as the sculptor
of the Confederacy, and il this be true
he has done much towards the attain
ment of his ambition. He is the sculptor
of monuments to jefferson Davis and
Winnie Davis, that have been reared at
Richmond. of the bust of Sam Davis, the
Confederate scout who was hanged as
spy at Vicksburg, and is now at work
upon full length figure of the same sub
Jeet. He is the creator of numerous SOL
diers' monuments all over the South and
there are many of the South's heroes,
whose names and fame have been rem
oered visible and PERPETUAL by his gifted
chisel.
He is on his way to Memphis now to
submit designs and sketches for the mon
ument of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
the dashing cavalry leader of the Western
armies His sketch represents Gen. For
rest mounted. his sheathed saber hang
ing by his SIDE his head bare his arm
appraised In a gesture of attention and
command. The figure of the man breathes
the fiery purpose and resolution of it's
subject. 1t looks. as the artist says he
intended it should look, like the very
god of war
Mr.. Zolnay tells an interesting and re-
markable story of his bust of Sam Davis
When he undertook the work. he under
took it with more than the artists en-
thusiasm. The story of Sam Davis, the
boy who had suffered the most ignomin-
ious death man can face, rather than
betray his country or his friend had ap-
pealed to him with a triple force.
Everywhere he sought a photograph or
other portrait of his subject, but it sp-
peared that none had ever been taken or
none at least remained, and his search
was entirely Intellectual. The artist was
discouraged, but not altogether disheart-
ened. He journeyed to Tennessee and
there had long talks with the mother and
sister of the scout, gaining from them
all the Information of the cast and mould
of the features he wished to draw. This
he supplemented by talks with other per-
sons, and then went to work.
ut was not longer my purpose or hope,
he said last night, ito reproduce a physi-
Gale likeness of my subject had i'm
printed on my minds eye a mental pic.
ture of the type that Davis personified
the devotion, the self-sacrfice, the deter
mination and the courage that must have
animated the man who died the death
that was his II was a type, aud only
Indirectly an individual that / tried to
model in my clay.
but when the clay model was COM
pleted and il seemed to me to resemble
what had been told of Sam Davis fea-
lures and form, was curious to know
whether or not something of these had
not actually been attained The model
was in my studio. and / had II yelled. 1
called in to see II the man who had
known Davis better than any one on
earth, his chum. Mr.. Kennedy OF Nash
Vile. who had rescued the body of his
friend after death.
81 did not tell him why I wanted him.
nor what wanted him to see, but placed
him in front OF the bust and threw aside
the veil. He stared at IL with wide-open-
ed eyes, exclaimed My God, it's Davis
and burst into tears.
Almost without conscious effort. I had
produced a physical likeness that was re-
~, ri thai sha