The Irish standard., 1903-08-08

I secured permission to use the fam
Gus Roman baths of the Emperor
Dioclrtian for the purpose. 1t was
Il stroke this utilization of one of the
most famous palaces of the Romans
as Il workshop for Chicago. Donoghue
aftrrward explained that it was mere
ly living up to the tradition of his
native city.
| Under the inspiration of his historic
surroundings Donoyhuc worked tire
lrSsly. The mechanical labor of such
an enterprise was of course rnor-
NOUS and this the sculptor had under
estimated. lie worked day and night,
but the time for the delivery of the
| figure came and found it far from
completion. So well. meanwhile, was
the preliminary work considered that
the Constitution was sent by the
government to Italy to carry it to
America. Here was DonOyluc's first
great disappointment. Before he
could complete his statue the ship
|
casiOn.
His statue was too large to be
transported by rail. He had it sawn
into eleven pieces and hurried with it
to Genoa. A ship was secured, the
sculptor paid the cost of transpOrta-
ton, some $2,OOO-witl promises
ana hurried to Amcricn. The statue
arrived too late to be used. His
masterpiece the embodiment of so
many hopes and so much effort, lay
under Il great tarpnuin on a deserted
dock in Brooklyn. with none to see or
appreciate it's majesty. its colossal
dignity
| The blow would have crushed Il
less courageous spirit. Donoghuc re-
covered instantly. With the light
hcnrtcdncss which won for him so
many friends lie Immediately rushed
into tho great competition for sculp-
tors at the Worlds Fair. The Fine
Arts Department of the exhibition
was compelled to choose from among
seventy competitors, including we'll
known sculptors of several countries
Fourteen of these were Americans.
lponOghuc was awarded the first
prize. Nothing did so much to an
nOllncc his genius as his work in this
competition. The effort came from
the depths of his despair, yet the
| 1i,rlt II al Ia,
and. most OF ALL his choice of SUBJ
tcct can only be accounted for as Il
touch of genius. His statue was II
superb nude figure of SophocIcs lead.
ing the chorus after the Battle OF
| ShlAmiS. The statue represents the
poet as a 1.-the and youthful figure as
he danced and sang in the military
parade in the streets of Athens Before
the trophies captured at Salams 1t
is the perfect embodiment of the joy-
Gus, impulsivc temperament of the
Greek. DonOghllc'S genius was never
more happily inspired One can only
marvel that in the face of such dis
courAgcnent the sculptor should have
chosen Il theme so lightheartcd and
carcflpc. Following this Donoghue
made several notable contributions to
several public buildings throughout
the United States. For the Con-
Ercssional Library ut Washington ne
prepared one of the great arches and.
in addition, the statue of st. Paul,
lie modelled two busts one of Gov.
rrnor Amcs and another of John
Boyle OltcIly, for the Boston Public
Library, as well as the heroic figure
of st. Louis of France which adorns
the court house of the Appellate Divi-
sion in New York. A great CONNER
cial success was now opened to Don
oshuc, but he persistently refused to
take advantage of it, He would do
nothing unworthy of his genius. His
choice was a very difficult one. He
had little or no talent for business af-
fairs, and in the end, as all the world
knows, he failed. He would UNDER
take nothing he did not consider high
art. Again and again he was begged
to do model figures to decorate cer-