John Winthrop, (sculpture).

John Winthrop, (sculpture).

Greenough, Richard Saltonstall, 1819-1904, sculptor.

Fonderia Nelli, founder.

John Winthrop, (sculpture).

Governor Winthrop, (sculpture).

Modeled 1873. Cast 1880. Relocated 1904. Reinstalled 1975.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 7 ft. x 2 ft. 5 in. x 2 ft. 3 in.; Base: approx. 4 ft. 6 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.

(Base, left side:) R.S. GREENOUGH SCULP 1873 / Adro cav. Nelli fuse Roma 1880 (Base, front plaque:) JOHN WINTHROP/FIRST GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY/ONE OF THE FOUNDERS/OF BOSTON/AND OF THE/FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON/A.D. 1630 signed Founder's mark appears.

A standing portrait of John Winthrop holding a book under his proper left arm and in his proper right hand, the great seal and a scroll representing the charter. He is dressed in a long, belted shirt with a very large ruff around the neck, knee breeches, and flat shoes. A cloak falls over his proper left shoulder. He is depicted stepping from a gang plank with his proper right foot forward. Beside his proper right foot is a tree stump with a rope tied around it. The sculpture is mounted on a textured concrete ledge which extends from the wall of the building.

Portrait male -- Winthrop, John -- Full length

Ethnic -- British

Occupation -- Law -- Lawyer

Occupation -- Political -- Governor

Dress -- Historic -- Seventeenth Century Dress

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Boston

Administered by City of Boston, Boston Art Commission, Office of Cultural Affairs, Boston City Hall, Room 716, Boston, Massachusetts 02201

Located First Church, 66 Marlborough Street, Boston, Massachusetts

Formerly located Scollay Square, Boston, Massachusetts until 1903.

John Winthrop (1588-1649) was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a founder of the First Church established in 1630. Between 1630 and his death in 1649, he was elected Governor a dozen times. It was his re-election, opposing Sir Henry Vane, that initiated the expulsion of Anne Hutchinson and subsequent persecution of non-puritans.

This sculpture is a bronze replica cast from a plaster mold made by Greenough from his marble statue of Winthrop in Statuary Hall at the U. S. Capitol. The $15,000 cost for the bronze replica was appropriated by the City of Boston from the Jonathan Phillips Street Fund. This bronze sculpture was installed in Scollay Square (now Government Center) in 1880, but was relocated to First Church in 1904 due to increasing traffic and construction of the subway in Scollay Square. Originally the sculpture was installed on a tall granite pedestal adorned with acanthus leaves and when the sculpture was relocated to First Church, it was reinstalled on it original base.

In 1968, the sculpture suffered severe damage, including a severed head, when fire nearly destroyed First Church. During the fire, the sculpture was knocked off of its original base when the walls of the church collapsed. The sculpture and its pedestal were stored at the Duane Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts during reconstruction of First Church. The architect for the rebuilt church, Paul Rudolph, designed a new installation site along a side wall of the church. The restoration of the sculpture was hampered, however, by a problem finding an appropriate craftsman to repair the damage sustained in the fire. The sculpture was not restored until the spring of 1975.

IAS files contain a photocopy of a photograph of the sculpture on its original base; and excerpts from: Allan Forbes and Ralph Eastman's "Some Statues of Boston," Boston, MA: State Street Trust Company, 1946, pg. 73-34; Walter Whitehill's "Boston Statue," Barre, MA: Barre Publishers, 1970, pg. 41; Wayne Craven's "Sculpture in America," Newark, DE: University of Delaware Press, 1984, pg. 273; and the Boston Art Department's Annual Reports 1899-1925, pg. 13. IAS files also contain pages 2-6 of a 1973 proposal suggesting the restored sculpture be relocated to Winthrop Square, and a letter dated March 21, 1975, from The Proprietors and Trustees of the First and Second Church in Boston expressing their desire to have the sculpture reinstalled on the grounds of the rebuilt First Church. IAS files also contain an Acid Rain Study survey sheet dated November 30, 1970 which includes a brief condition assessment.

Carlock, Marty, "A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston," Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1988.

Zoukee, Sophye M., "Adopt-A-Statue Casebook," Boston: City of Boston, 1990.

Boston Art Commission, 1991.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1993.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MA5110, 1989.

Monumental News, Nov. 1894, pg. 541.

Zoukee, Sophye M., "Adopt-A-Statue Casebook," Boston: City of Boston, 1990, pg. 68.

Monumental News, Nov. 1894, pg. 541.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

Control Number:

Horizon Information Portal 3.0

Powered by SirsiDynix

About | © 2020 Smithsonian | Terms of Use | Privacy | Contact

SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System