''Robert R. Livingston'' is an 1875

bronze sculpture Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...

Robert R. Livingston Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", afte ...

, one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

, executed by the New York born sculptor

Erastus Dow Palmer Erastus Dow Palmer (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor. Life Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...

. The state is installed in the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, as part of the

National Statuary Hall Collection The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...

. It is one of two statues donated by the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

History

In 1873, after receiving the commission to create the Livingston statue, Palmer moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to work on the statue. This was a departure from the usual tendency of American artists of the time to place themselves in

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 ...

, a trend that was to accelerate in the coming years. There he worked on modeling and then casting his work before returning it and himself to the United States. In comparing this statue with others in the collection, the art historian E. Wayne Craven noted, “The statue of Livingston, though slightly larger than life, is dwarfed by surrounding giants in marble and bronze, but few can approach it in quality. For many of the other statues, their inadequacies become all the more obvious as they increase in size, whereas the one of Livingston wears well.” Webster in his biography and catalogue of Palmer's works reveals that the sculptor first produced a nude study of Livingston (with fig leaf) prior to executing the clothed statue, which was a common practice at the time. In Paris, Palmer made two casts of the work, one bound for the Capitol, the other for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

in Albany. A plaster version was placed in Livingston Hall at the

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. One of the two versions was exhibited at the

Centennial International Exhibition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and was awarded a first class medal.James-Gadzinski, Susan and Mary Mullen Cunninghan, American Sculpture in the Museum of American Art of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, Museum of American Art of the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts and University of Washington Press, Seattle 1997 pp. 45–46 Since the Exposition was held in 1876 and the statue in Washington was unveiled in 1875, it is likely that it was the Albany statue or the Albany plaster that was shown in Philadelphia.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, New York (state), Visual arts, United States 1875 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1875 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Washington, D.C. Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C. Livingston, Robert Sculptures of men in Washington, D.C. Statues of U.S. Founding Fathers

History

See also

References

External links