MONUMENT TO DEACON SAMUEL CHAPIN, AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
AUGUSTUS ST. CAUDENS, SCULPTOR
views of the same
statue are presented
to show the influence of en-
vironment. A sterile business back-
ground detracts from the moral force
of a living work of art; while even
that unpromising site might have
been redeemed by judicious planting.
Thus, it might have become a spot
about which property would always
improve, as many a neighborhood
abroad has been rescued from the
slums by the presence of a noble
statue properly displayed.
St. Gaudens' Puritan is perhaps
the best example we have of Ameri-
can sculpture, and in theme and local
significance Springfield possesses a
work of art that none of our other
cities can equal. It is truly and dis-
tinctively American. In the firm,
steady stride and resolute expression,
the figure epitomizes early New Eng-
land history. The pedestal, notwith-
standing its broad spread and good
proportions, is entirely out of charac-
ter (there is no suggestion of Ply-
mouth Rock in its refined details), and
as it has neither a front nor a back
and seems to whirl about in either di-
rection in a dizzy ecstacy, it fails to in-
terpret its part. Yet the vigorous per-
sonality of the statue is not rivaled
by the arabesque design, and at a dis-
tance, seen under a spreading elm,
with H. H. Richardson's first church
in the background, the theme is at
least fairly well sustained.