The Irish standard., 1911-08-26
Bronze Statue of Famous Irish
Statesman Exhibited to
Public View.
Figure Singularly Characteristic
and Conveys Striking Resem-
blance of the Man.
Ceremony of dwelling on October 1
Will be Presided Over by
John Redmond.

The splendid bronze statue of Par
nell which will be formally unveiled
at the ceremony presided over by Mr..
John E. Redmond on October /, has
been put in it's position in front of
the shaft of Conomara marble which
serves as it's background. The statue
is the work OF the sculptor St. Gau-
dens who while working on it was at
tackled by illness which resulted in his
death. Referring to this great work
the Weekly Freeman Dublim says:
He Che sculptor st. Gaudens) went
to the very greatest trouble over the
likeness of Parnell. Curiously enough,
there was lack of portrait material.
Parnell had not sat often, and the
portraits secured of him had little
! value from the sculptors point of view.
At last he had resort to caricatures
from Punch" sketches made during
the sitting of the "Times" Commits
sion-thc Forgery Commssion-by
Sydney P. Hall, and other sketches by
Harry Furness and Sir John Tennicl.
/ Except for the face, however," his son
observes, "the stateue hardly repre-
!sents So much, the man of Irish char
acter in the broad sense; since, al
| Do al II <,
poorly, my father portrayed him in
, the midst of oratory, with his thin
right arm stretched rigidly from the
shoulder" 1t is pardonable to observe
that, however true it may have been
at one period that Parnell spoke poor
ly, the description cannot apply to
him through the greater and more i'm
portant part OF his public life. No one
spoke more impressively, more pow
and occasion demanded, and few ora
| tors of the first rank have cast a more
J. tyranneous spell over their audiences
All the preliminaries were complet-
ed, or almost completed when a catas-
| trophe befell artist and masterpiece
Parnell was man Of strange fancies
addicted, it might be said, to the most
curious superstitions. When that is
| remembered the story of the accident
| probably as any recorded in history
The great Leader was buried at Glas-
nevin on October II, 1891. Thirteen
| (ominous number!) years later-"on
the night Of October IL, 1904-the Par
(, nell was burned in the studio, as nc
one then on the place understood how
! to move it, though only slight catch
held it to the floor" Saint Gaudens
f, loss was not confined to the destruc-
ton of the monument meant for Dub
/ lin. The seated statue of Lincoln for
the Chicago Lake front and statue
of Mr.. Marcus DAILY for Butte, Mon
tana, were also destroyed. All this
huge labor had to be commenced again
| from the very beginning.
| However opinions may differ, as tc
| the effectiveness Of certain details
there is no question in the world about
this--that the figure on which, OF
course, is concentrated the chief ele-
ment of the work, is singularly char
acteristic, and conveys striking re.
semblance Of the man. The head is
splenddly modelled, the features anl
expression are very lifelike, and the
! attitude recalls much Of the manner
so familiar to those whose privilege
it was to see and hear the great tri.
bune. Until the builders appliances
and the boarding are completely re.
moved, and the entire work displayed
in its completeness after the unveiling
the public will not, Of course, have ar
opportunity of witnessing the statue
and the shaft under proper conditions
But one can With some confidence pre-.
dict that those who gaze on it viii
recognize what a majestic conception
| 1t is, ana tnat the monument VIII De
worthy of the Chief, of Dublin, o.
Saint -Gaudens. 1t is, indeed, the fig.
ure of a strong man cast in bronze by
a strong man. The style Is one tt
which Dublin has not been accustom.
] ed, but even to eyes familiar with the
, exquisite graces Of Foleys works this
superb specimen of the broad. vigor-