The Washington times., 1917-03-26

ence board Of directors. lThe mem
orial to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy is
declared by sculptors to be the finest
example of carving in granite in the
world and that for minuteness Of de-
tail the work has scarcely been sur
passed in all outdoor art, even in
bronze.
The memorial, which is located at
Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge,
Mass, has required over a year and a
half to complete. The fund for its
construction, amounting to over
$4,000 was first announced by the
directors in June, 1911, and was some
time ago fully subscribed. These
contributions have been made as ex-
pressions OF sentiment Thy Christian
Scientists throughout the world.
Screen Of Columns.
The memorial consists of a circular
open colonnade of eight columns,
resting upon a stylobate OF three
steps, surrounded on the front by a
circular platform slightly above the
natural grade, from which platform a
double flight OF steps leads to a low
er platform at the lakes edge. The
scheme has no prototype and is mere
ly a screen of columns open to the
sky, inclosing a homegrown circle.
The material used for the memorial
Is Bethel white granite, the inscrip-
tion in the frieze and upon the top
of the pylons being OF white bronze
let deep into the stone work. The detail
is entirely floral in form and free in
treatment, the wildrose, Mrs. Eddy's
favorite flower, and the morning-glory
being ed as the main motives. The
extreme width of the memorial
Is about fifty feet and the
colonnade is eighteen feet in dia-
meter. The columns themselves are
fifteen feet in height and are similar
In general character to those in the
Clepsydra of Andronicus of Cyrrhus.
The large pylons -ere exhibited at
the American institute of Architec-
ture In New York a short time ago
and experts pronounced them the
finest pieces of carved granite ever
executed.
-. swartwout the Architect.
The architect is Egerton Swartwout
of New York city who designed the
new George Washington memorial,
the new MISSOURI State Capital and
the new Federal Building in Denver.
His explanation and comment on
the carving Is contained in an author
lied statement. as follows:
The original scheme was essenti-
ally a marble design, as IL seemed
that in no other material could the
requisite fneness of detail be OBJ
tained, but after much investigat tion
II was decided to abandon marble as
not sufficiently durable and lasting.
and white granite was finally selected.
1t then occurred to me that 1t p'"ht
be advisable to use bronze fol -
more delicate ornament that q
not be carved. in granite. and that thts
bronze might be white bronze. Instead
of the more customary color, so that
there would not be too much contrast
with the granite, and a sample was
made which was extremely interest
ing and beautiful. After great de-
liberation. this idea was given up. be-
cause the ornament looked a little
spotty. due to the fact that practically
all the work was curved, and the
bronze was constantly seen in differ
ent lights.
Experiments Made.
-A' NANNchAb anu
carver, then made a series of expert
ments with the granite, to determine
just to what extent the carving
could be carried, and much to our
satisfaction, we found that with the
aid of modern methods this hard
granite could be carved with the
delicacy of marble, and that marvel
Gus results could be obtained. 1t took
a long time, II is true, to carve the
granite in this manner. on account
OF the hardness of the material and
its brittleness, and the greatest care
had to be exercised, but the result
has. in our opinion, justified the time
and expense spent upon 1t. l think
1t can be said without fear Of contra
diction that, leaving aside entirely
any artistic excellence, such perfec-
ton and delicacy have never been at
tained before in this unyielding and
enduring material. There is certain
ly nothing in modern times that can
approach 1t nor. as far as l know, in
any of the monuments of antiquity.
The Greeks and Romans employed
granite but little. and while the
Egyptians have left some wonderful
carving in that material, they did not
carry their work to such an elaborate
or delicate extent.
THE detail is novel; it is Let a
copy of any highly conventionalized
type, but is living and vibrant and
at the same time it still retains its
classic feeling: individuality was dis
played by the carver: no one piece
OF ornament was exactly a replica
of another piece. and tSis same feel
ing has been obtained in the memoir
ial, perhaps even to a greater extent
than in any clRsical monument.
Incentive To Carving.
This freedom and individuality
was obtained by stimulating the car
yers themselves with the promise
that when a man had succeeded in
doing an especially fine piece OF
carving he would be permitted to
put his name upon the stone. not, in.
deed, upon the face where 1t would
be seen, but upon the bed where IL
would be concealed. and so the In |
diyidull man felt that there was a
recognition OF his own ability, and
that that was his stone, and his |
name was on 1t. There were about |
twenty of these carvefs. all from
northern Italy, and they were all
master carvers, as it happened that
the work was done in the winter. |
when there was practically little |
carving done, and the pick of the
profession could be readily obtained. |