Sketch of Saint Gaudens's Statue of Deacon Samuel Chapin, Springfield, Massachusetts
Stanford White
ca. 1887 · Pastel, charcoal, and pencil on paper · The American Wing
"The Puritan" was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, 1887, in Stearns Square in Springfield, Massachusetts. For this monument to Deacon Samuel Chapin (1598-1675), one of the city’s early settlers, Saint-Gaudens again partnered with Stanford White to produce a custom-designed base and landscaped environment for the bronze sculpture (39.65.53). White plotted out his sketch for the statue’s setting with a straight edge, delineating an outer pathway as well as one that crosses with a bench that crosses in front of the sculpture. The drawing is otherwise rendered in quick strokes and shadings to indicate trees, hedges, and a fountain with central sphere. Areas of water, grass, leaves, and sky are colored with pastels. The final result featured the same major elements, with the addition of brick pathways that led the viewer around the fountain and to the sculpture. (The monument, with only the red granite base, was relocated in 1899 to Springfield’s Merrick Park).
- Artist
- Stanford White
- Date
- ca. 1887
- Medium
- Pastel, charcoal, and pencil on paper
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1999
