Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-01-08
BARNARD CARVES
STATUE OF LINCOLN
[Continued From Editorial Pagc]


ing to the furthermost limits of his
face, to the fruits of toll in his Won
drous hands-hands cast from life at
the time of the mask by Douglas Volk.
For one hundred days l sought the
secret of this face in the marvellous
constructive work of God. Here is no
line. no form, to interpret lightly, to
evade or cover Every atom of it's
surface belongs to some individual
form, melting into larger form and
again into the form of the whole. The
mystery of this whole form nature
alone knows-man will never fathom
it, but at least he should not bring to
this problem forms of his own MAX
ing.
Nothing is easier than to have a
molder for five dollars push clay into
the mold of Lincoln's face and give 1T
to one ready to open the eyes and
stick on hair, smoothing the surfaces
and calling out, Lincoln. But art
virtue is to reveal, not to obscure. 1t
is a power to make plain hidden
things. Art is not nature, the mask
of Lincoln not sculpture. The mask
controls it's secrets, Lincoln's life re-
vealed them, as the sculptor must re-
veal the power and purpose of this
wondrous mask"
Mr.. Barnard recalls that Lincoln,
at seven years of age, helped to make
the coffin and dig the grave of his
mother. And such a mother as Lin
coin must have had made greater his
agony, left a memory so vital that
through life this giant physically and
mentally 'mothered' his neighbors, his
State. his country" The feminine in
Lincoln is analyzed thus:
The left side of Lincoln's face is
the motherhood side, the right side
mans. Beneath the left eye two
mountains lie; from the valley be-
tween soft light flows a gentle stream;
it bursts upon a circular muscular hill
in form like a petrified tear through
sadness and joy placed there. Then
all flow together, turning into smile
at his lips, like a stream through a
dark valley of shadows coming to its
own into the sunshine.
People say who saw: Lincoln
often looked the Christ This face is
infinitely nearer an expression of our
Christ character than all the con-
ventional pictures of the Son of God
parted in the middle and features that
never lived, is the creation of artists,
Lincoln's face the triumph of God
through man, and of man through
God. One, fancy; the other, truth at
labor. Lincoln. the song of democ-
racy written by God. His face, the
temple of his manhood, we have with
us in the life mask.
The Olympian Zeus in its remote
ness from the life of the people, the
life that must be lived, is the antithe-
sis of Lincoln's. In the latter all self
consciousness is effaced, there is no
lurking hint that the spirit behind
and within was disturbed by the tenn
pie it dwelt in. All it's lines lead away
from self-center. AS l wrought at this
face facade | was conscious of being
gradually drawn back of the face and
forever onward. Thought born within
this face sprang outward in every di-
rection, in its flight gentle, unending,
toward the truth of things, for the
truth of things, truth at labor.
"Out of the study of Lincoln's life
mask grew the entire poise of his fig
ure. He must have stood as the Re-
public should stand, strong, simple,
carrying it's weight unconsciously,
without pride in rank or culture. He
is clothed with cloth worn, the history
of labor. The records of labor in
Lincoln's clothes are the wings of his
victory. The Winged Victory of
Samothrace was an allegory of what
Lincoln lived. His wings were acts,
his fields of flight the hearts of men,
their laughter, their life. Tradition
is he stood bent at the knees This
is not true. Worn. baggy trousers,
forgotten, unthought of, honored their
history"
Mr.. Barnard's desire to tell the
truth about Lincoln's form led him to
search through two years for a model
that should approximate the man he
must have been. The story of the
man. when found, is this:
"I travelled through the States,
North and South, East and West.
advertised and went personally to look
at many men. At last, in Louisville,
KY, after great number had come
to me, l found the one l wanted. He
was six feet four and one-half inches,
and realized as nearly as any other
being conceivably could all that we
know of Lincoln's appearance. L
asked him about himself and he gave
this curious account:
" L was born on farm only fifteen
miles from where Lincoln was born.
My father, my fathers father, and his
father were all born there
"A study of this mans body showed
it to be in harmony with the body of
Lincoln. The Greeks had nothing like
that. 1t was a genuine product of
American soil, as typical in its way
as the Indians. The legs were long,
and he had a back that seemed to
bend without causing a corresponding
cavity in front. l spoke of this to him
and he said:
81 have been splitting rails all my
life. lie was about torty years OLD.
That was the natural explanation of
his over-developed back and shoulder
muscles. Lincoln had gone through
the same exercise and the same result
was noted in his form. He was prob
ably the most powerful physical being
known to the frontier life.
'I have seen the models of Europe
men of Greece and Italy-sym-
metrical and beautiful in classic
way; but nothing ever appealed to me
like the form of this Kentuckian. 1t
affected the spirit like the passing of
a storm through the sky. 1 am work.
ing now on a head that / hope will
enable me to. carry out this feeling, a
head fifteen feet in height. Lincoln
is the unveiling of the Sphinx. That
ancient figure out on the desert sand
meant slavery, mental, moral, and
physical. The men of that day were
bound in their environment; they saw
no end to the problem of life.
Lincoln stands for clearness, for
knowledge. He deals simply with the
facts of life. helps his neighbors in
their homely tasks, laughs with them.
There is mystery in him, but it is the
mystery of the spirit brought down