Feature Article:
Figures in Marble: An American Tradition
by E. Adina Gordon, Ph.D

Lacking the native artistic talent to immortalize its patriots, postcolonial America engaged foreign masters who sent their models to Italy to be translated into marble by skilled artisans. Houdon, the great French portrait sculptor, was followed by the English and the Italians, led by Canova, who said, “Sculpture is born in clay, dies in plaster, and is resurrected in marble.” Locally and European-trained American sculptors of the Federalist era preferred marble, with portraiture dominating as their chief subject matter and breadwinner.