Sir Henry Vane, (sculpture).

Sir Henry Vane, (sculpture).

MacMonnies, Frederick William, 1863-1937, sculptor.

McKim, Charles Follen, 1847-1909, designer.

Jaboeuf & Bezout Fondeurs, founder.

Sir Henry Vane, (sculpture).

Sir Harry Vane, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze with green patina; Pedestal: dark Alps green Genoa marble.

Sculpture: 94 x 42 x 36 in. (239 x 107 x 92 cm); Pedestal: 40 x 32 x 27 in.

(On base, left side:) Frederick MacMonnies 1893 (On bronze plaque affixed to base front:) BUT IT PLEASES GOD TO STIR THEM UP SUCH FRIENDS, VIZ.,/SIR HENRY VANE, WHO HAD SOMETIME LIVED AT BOSTON/AND THOUGH HE MIGHT HAVE TAKEN OCCASION AGAINST US FOR/SOME DISHONOR WHICH HE APPREHENDED TO HAVE BEEN UNJUSTLY/PUT UPON HIM HERE, YET BOTH NOW AND AT OTHER TIMES HE/SHOWED HIMSELF A TRUE FRIEND OF NEW ENGLAND, AND A/MAN OF A NOBLE AND GENEROUS MIND. 'WINTHROP.' (On base, right side:) JABOUEF & BEZOUT Fondeurs a Paris (On plaque affixed to pedestal:) SIR HENRY VANE/GOVERNOR OF THE/COLONY OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY 1636/BORN 1612 BEHEADED 1662/AN ARDENT DEFENDER OF CIVIL LIBERTY AND/ADVOCATE OF FREE THOUGHT IN RELIGION/HE MAINTAINED THAT GOD, LAW AND PARLIAMENT/ARE SUPERIOR TO THE KING/THIS STATUE WAS PLACED HERE AT THE REQUEST OF JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE, D.D., AN HONORED CITIZEN/OF BOSTON WHO NOBLY LABORED FOR THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN AMERICA signed

A standing portrait of Sir Henry Vane (1612-1662) holding a coat over his proper left arm. He is dressed in 17th century attire consisting of a shirt with a ruff at the neck, boots, breeches, a cape, and a hat with a large plume. The sculpture rests on a small square base in niche inside the Dartmouth Street Vestibule.

Portrait male -- Vane, Henry -- Full length

Occupation -- Political -- Governor

Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston Street, Dartmouth Street Vestibule, Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Paris Salon of 1894, Paris, 1894, (no. S-3333).

The sculpture was presented to the library by Dr. Charles G. Weld in honor of James Freeman Clark, a Unitarian minister who was, at the time of his death, a trustee of the library. For additional information see "A Handbook to the Art and Architecture of the Boston Public Library," Boston: Association of Boston Public Library, 1978, pg. 19-20.

Charles F. McKim designed the pedestal.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1993.

Smart, Mary, "A Flight with Fame: the life and art of Frederick MacMonnies, with a Catalogue Raisonne of Sculpture and a Checklist of Paintings by E. Adina Gordon," Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1996, no. 31.

Smart, Mary, "A Flight with Fame: the life and art of Frederick MacMonnies, with a Catalogue Raisonne of Sculpture and a Checklist of Paintings by E. Adina Gordon," Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1996, pg. 292.

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

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