Launt Thompson (February 8, 1833 – September 26, 1894) was an American sculptor.

Biography

He was born in

Abbeyleix Abbeyleix (; ) is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located around south of the county town of Portlaoise. Abbeyleix was formerly located on the N8, the main road from Dublin to Cork. At one point, up to 15,000 vehicles passed along the town' ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Due to the Great Famine occurring in Ireland at the time, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1847 with his widowed mother, and they settled in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

. There, he found work as a handyman. After studying anatomy in the office of a physician, Dr. James H. Armsby, he spent nine years as the studio boy of the sculptor, E. D. Palmer. In 1858 he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where he opened a studio. There he shared an apartment with James Pinchot. In 1862 he was elected

academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. In syst ...

at the

National Academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

due to his work ''Rocky Mountain Trapper'', a marble portrait of James "Grizzly" Adams. He visited

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1868–1869, and married Maria Louisa Potter (1839–1916), daughter of

Alonzo Potter Alonzo Potter (July 6, 1800 – July 4, 1865) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States who served as the third bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Potter "identified himself with all the best interests of society." ...

, Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania. From 1875 to 1887 he was again in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, living for most of the time at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. He died at the State Mental Asylum at Middletown, New York.

Selected works

*''Rocky Mountain Trapper'' (1862), unlocated. *'' Napoleon the First'' (1866),

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, Washington, D.C. *Portrait bust of ''

William Cullen Bryant William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794 – June 12, 1878) was an American romantic poet, journalist, and long-time editor of the ''New York Evening Post''. Born in Massachusetts, he started his career as a lawyer but showed an interest in poetry ...

'' (1867),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York City. * General John Sedgwick Monument (1868),

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

, West Point, New York. *Portrait bust of ''Charles Loring Elliott'' (1870),

, New York City. *Portrait bust of ''Sanford Gifford'' (1871),

, New York City. *Civil War Memorial (1872), Park Square, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. *''

General Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

'' (1873),

Soldiers' Home The Soldiers' Home is an historic Italianate style building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Located at 739 E. 35th Street, the Home was built in a series of phases from 1864 to 1923, designed by William W. Boyington and other architects. ...

, Washington, D.C. *''

Abraham Pierson Abraham Pierson (1646 – March 5, 1707) was an American Congregational minister who served as the first rector, from 1701 to 1707, and one of the founders of the Collegiate School — which later became Yale University. Biography He was ...

, First President of Yale College'' (1874),

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, New Haven, Connecticut. A replica is in

Clinton, Connecticut Clinton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population of the town was 13,185 at the 2020 census. The town center along the shore line was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 c ...

. *''Unconsciousness'' (1881), Marble nude.

Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library The Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library is a historic library building located in Watertown in Jefferson County, New York. The library was built in 1903 through 1904, and completed on November 10, 1904. The library opened on January 4, 1905. It wa ...

, Watertown, N.Y. *United States Regulars Monument (1882),

Stones River National Battlefield Stones River National Battlefield, a park along the Stones River in Rutherford County, Tennessee, three miles (5 km) northwest of Murfreesboro and twenty-eight miles southeast of Nashville, memorializes the Battle of Stones River. This ke ...

, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. *'' Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont'' (1884), Rockford Park, Wilmington, Delaware. Originally installed at

DuPont Circle Dupont Circle (or DuPont Circle) is a traffic circle, park, neighborhood and historic district in Northwest Washington, D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th Street NW to the east, 22nd Street NW ...

in Washington D.C.; moved to Wilmington, 1920. *

Equestrian statue of Ambrose Burnside ''Major General Ambrose E. Burnside'', also known as the Ambrose Burnside Monument, is a monumental equestrian statue in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The statue, located in the city's Burnside Park, was designed by sculptor Laun ...

(1887), Burnside Park, Providence, Rhode Island. This was Thompson's only equestrian statue and last major work. *Medallion portrait of '' General John A. Dix''. *Portrait bust of '' James Gordon Bennett''. *Portrait bust of ''

Samuel F. B. Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...

'',

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

, New York City. *Portrait bust of ''

Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatri ...

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. *Portrait bust of ''

Stephen H. Tyng Stephen Higginson Tyng (March 1, 1800 – September 3, 1885) was a leading clergyman of the evangelical party of the Episcopal Church. He recognized that a new urban ministry was needed in parts of New York City with growing numbers of immigran ...

'' *Portrait bust of '' Robert B. Minturn''. File:Napoleon I by Launt Thompson 1862 Smithsonian.jpg, ''Napoleon I'' (1866),

, Washington, D.C. File:Sedgwick Statue.JPG, John Sedgwick Monument (1868),

, West Point, New York. File:Abraham Pierson statue Old Campus Yale University.jpg, ''Abraham Pierson'' (1874),

, New Haven, Connecticut. File:Sam DuPont.JPG, ''Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont'' (1884), Rockford Park, Wilmington, Delaware. File:Burnside Park monument.jpg, ''Major-General Ambrose E. Burnside'' (1887), Burnside Park, Providence, Rhode Island.

References

;Attribution *

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading