The San Francisco call., 1909-10-15
ROMANTIC STORY
OF LATENT GENIUS
Mother of Douglas Tilden Mod
els Bas Relief of Gaspar
de POrt0la

Through the awakening of talent
for half a century latent the hundreds
of thousands who are fiocking to san
Francisco to attend the Portoia festi-
val are to be able to see an authentic
portrait Of the hero who is thus, after
a century and a half, so signally hon.
ored-the sturdy Catalan who COM
manded the expedition which resulted
in the discovery of the bay-one of the
greatest harbors in the world. a plas-
ter bas relief of Don Gaspar de Por-
tola. taken from a sketch of an origi-
nal painting in oils by one of the Fran
ciscan fathers who accompanied the
second Portola expedition, has been
modelled by Mrs. c. NJ. Tilden Brown,
mother of Douglas Tilden, the famous
sculptor of the Donahue and Native
sons monuments.
FASCINATED BY PORTRAIT
Fifty years ago Mrs. TiIden Brown,
then living in the southern part OF the
state was a frequent visitor to the
house of the Castro family and became
fascinated by a painting which was one
Of the family portraits. 1t was that of
a picturesque Spanish soldier, with a
strong yet kindly face and deep
Thoughtful eyes. The girl was Of the
impressionable age and the story OF
the sitter Captain Gaspar de Portola
not less than the lighting and arrange
ment and the rich, warm, sumptuous
tones of the canvas itself. continually
attracted her. She was of artistic tenn
perament and had acquired no little
skilI with pencil and brush, and she set
TO work to reproduce it. She labored
diligently and enthusiastically and soon
L. i. .s.,I,
was startling in it's faithfulness to the
original portrait in oils.
Half a century goes by and San Fran
cisco begins preparations for the Por-
tola festival. The young artist is now
venerable woman and the mother OF
famous sculptor. Douglas Tilden
when he returned from his studies in
Paris and opened a studio in San Fran
cisco Immediately receiving valuable
commissions for public statues. had lit
tie thought that he had inherited his
talent from his mother, for she hac
been too busy with domestic and socia
matters to exercise her artistic genius
MAKES BIAS RELIEF
But Mrs. Tilden Brown had beer
! dreaming of her youth and the name
/ of PortoIa brought recollections of tn,
masterpiece of her childish days. Sh'
searched in long forgotten trunks anc
/ produced the water coloI portrait o.
Governor Portola, and, without consult
/ ing her son, went TO work to reproducs
! il again in clay. The inspiration came
and the fingers. deft now and propelled
by the divine force, soon fashioned {
/ likeness which called forth the admira
I tion of her son, the sculptor He nov
realized TO whom he was indebted fol
his natural artistic gifts.
The bas relief which has been made
by the artist, the flame Of whose genius
half century of inactivity had beer
insufficient to quench, shows the fn'
head of a large, strong, kindly man
surely a soldier and commander, ans
one to be loved by his followers.
And now that this authentic portrai
! Of Gaspar de Portola has been un
earthed. 1t has been noted that Dor
Nicolas Covarrtfbias. who is to i'm.
personate the doughty Spanish captaiI
of dragons, bears a remarkable physi
i cal resemblance to the original. Their,