Victory
Victory
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
This sculpture is a reduction of the Victory that is part of the Sherman Monument (1903; New York, Grand Army Plaza). The famed equestrian statue, dedicated to the Civil War hero William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), is one of Manhattan's finest public sculptures, and a noble heir to the equestrian tradition begun in ancient Rome and continued through the Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens' "Victory" has traditional attributes—a laurel crown and a palm leaf—and is depicted by Saint-Gaudens as a guiding force. Her outstretched right arm leads the obediant horse, upon which sits a battle-hardened General Sherman. Saint-Gaudens painstakingly arranged drapery on numerous nude models for "Victory" before settling on what he believed was the perfect flow of her robe. Letters written by Saint-Gaudens near the completion of the monument reveal his triumphant feelings about the monument, and the figure of "Victory." In a letter to his niece, Rose S. Nichols, he wrote, "It's the greatest 'Victory' anybody ever made. Hooraah!"
Victory
Victory
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (American, Dublin 1848–1907 Cornish, New Hampshire)
This sculpture is a reduction of the Victory that is part of the Sherman Monument (1903; New York, Grand Army Plaza). The famed equestrian statue, dedicated to the Civil War hero William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891), is one of Manhattan's finest public sculptures, and a noble heir to the equestrian tradition begun in ancient Rome and continued through the Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens' "Victory" has traditional attributes—a laurel crown and a palm leaf—and is depicted by Saint-Gaudens as a guiding force. Her outstretched right arm leads the obediant horse, upon which sits a battle-hardened General Sherman. Saint-Gaudens painstakingly arranged drapery on numerous nude models for "Victory" before settling on what he believed was the perfect flow of her robe. Letters written by Saint-Gaudens near the completion of the monument reveal his triumphant feelings about the monument, and the figure of "Victory." In a letter to his niece, Rose S. Nichols, he wrote, "It's the greatest 'Victory' anybody ever made. Hooraah!"