The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-15

kansas girl, and it was declared that her
state had produced an artist of lar
greater ability. The figure in butter was
taken to Philadelphia and exhibited to
hundreds of thousands of visitors at the
Centennial exhibition. Subsequently 1t
was displayed in many of the great cities
of the country. In 1878 it was taken to
Europe, and was viewed by the myr1ads
at the Paris exhibition of that year.
Strange to say, it was preserved intact
through all its removals from place to
place, being kept all the time at a low
temperature by means of ice.
The subject of this artistic conception
was the heroine of one of the most
singular dramas ever written. 1t was
called ''Iolanthe" The name was Greek
in form, and was provokingly elusive to
scholars, since no one could recall a
Greek play of that title. At the present
time, when translations from Scafdi-
navian authors constitute an important
part of familiar American literature, it
is difficult to realize how little of Scandi-
navian letters was known in America
generation ago. In the early sixties we
began to see TRANSACTIONS of Hans Chris
tian Andersen's tales among the pubfca-
tions prepared for American children, but
little else was known here of the litera-
lure OIL the UOrtIIGfA SIlOI0S VI
In 1866 one Theodore Martin translated
the .Yo1ande'' of Henrik Hertz, Of
Copenhagen, which for a score of years
had delighted the Danes. This pioneer
American book from the Scandinavian
world had slowly made it's way for
decade, when it inspired the soul of Mrs.
Brooks to depict in plastic form nef
conception of the heroine of the drama.
Unfortunately, as it seems to me, the
translator chose to employ the Greek
rather than the Danish form of the name
Yolande, and ''Iolanthe'' was applied
alike to the book and to the statue.
The sculptures chose butter as the ma
terial for her work, for reasons of her
own She has never abandoned it, though
this fact has cost her a large measure
of the success which she might have
achieved had she consented to conform to
the traditions of art She went to Europe
and remained for eight years. She suo-
| seauentIy modelled works of art for a
number of noted expositions. including
those of Chicago, Omaha and California
| in recent years She will be, if she lives,
an attraction at the st. Louis exposition
| of 1908.
| Among her works is a bas relief OF
| ''The Lady Godva-" In this the figure
/ is seen alighting from her horse, at the
! end of her strange ride. The horse is a
| favorite Arabian pony OK Buffalo Bill,
/ who CHANGED to be spending the winter
! at Florence when the work was per-
formed.
/ Mrs. Brooks has never realized the
| career which her countrymen predicted
/ for her. Her friends attribute this wholly
/ to her independence of character, which
4 led her to ignore the demand of critics
| that she model in clay. But though her
/ work may never assume permanent
form, it will be long remembered for its
grace and beauty, and for the feeling
which she fnparts to it. And it is to her
/ that we owe the popularizing in America
of the dramatic poem of Hertz, with its
4 tenderfy beautiful portraiture of maiden
hood.
IoIanthe was not a Danish princess, but
| q daughter Of the poet-monarch, Good