Skip to main content

Notes on Irish-American Sculptor Louis St. Gaudens, Creator of the Marble Twin Lions at Boston Public Library

Portrait of Louis St. Gaudens,  photo courtesy of Saint Gaudens National Historical Park 

Louis St. Gaudens (1854-1913), whose iconic sculptures grace the American landscape today, was born in New York City on January 8, 1854. He was the son of Bernard Saint-Gaudens from France and Mary McGuinness from Ireland, and the brother and protégé of his older brother Augustus, considered the preeminent American sculptor of his generation.  

The family had emigrated from Dublin to Boston in September 1848, fleeing the Irish Famine.  They stayed in Boston for about six months before moving to New York City, where they settled.

Among the most revered works of Louis are the twin lion statues in the foyer of the Boston Public Library; a statue of Greek poet Homer in the Main Reading Room Rotunda of the Library of Congress; six allegorical figures encircling Union Station in Washington, DC, and 46 Roman legionnaire statues inside the station.

Louis was schooled in the art of sculpture  at the French Academy and Ecoles de Beaux Art in Paris, but he learned mainly from his older brother, who he had followed to France in the 1870s. 
 
Louis assisted Augustus on many famous pieces, including the Colonel Shaw Memorial in Boston, The Charles S. Parnell Monument in Dublin and the General Sherman Monument in New York City, according to the  Boston Evening Transcript, who noted that Louis was able to “interpret more clearly his brother’s ideas in both clay and marble. As a worker in marble, he had few equals.” 

Twin Lions, photo courtesy of Boston Public Library


A lions at Boston Public Library, photo courtesy of Michael Quinlin

Locally, Louis’ most iconic work is the widely-viewed public Twin Lions Monument to two Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiments - the Second and the Twentieth - which fought bravely in the Civil War. The lions are located in the foyer of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. Although St. Gaudens intended to polish the Siena marble before the memorial was unveiled, the regiment members who commissioned the work were so delighted with the unpolished, raw look of the statues, that they asked the artist to leave it as is.

Union Station, photo courtesy of John Canning Preservationist


Nationally, Louis’ most notable work is at Union Station in Washington, DC .The work includes six allegorical figures on the façade of Union Station, as well forty-six 17 foot high figures cut in white Vermont marble, and the figures of the Roman soldiers in the station’s waiting room. The Washington Post called “one of the most majestic in the world. In many respects it resembles the Arch of Constantine, and its outline preserves the central ide a of a colossal city portal.”
 

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress, photo by Carol Highsmith

St. Gaudens also created the statue of Homer in the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington DC.

During his life, Louis adopted the spelling of St. Gaudens to differentiate himself from his more famous brother Augustus Saint Gaudens. Louis died on March 9 in Cornish, NH from pneumonia.

The twin lions, along with other sculptures, rare books and other material at the Boston Public Library, is featured on Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail.


Research + text,  Michael Quinlin


 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boston Celtics : The Story Behind Their Irish Green Theme

Bill Russell played for the Boston Celtics from 1956 to 1959 (This story was updated in March 2024) Many people wonder why the  Boston Celtics  wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why is the team mascot a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtic’s official web site, the name came about in 1946 when owner Walter Brown started the team. He and his public relations guy, Howie McHugh, were throwing out potential nicknames, including the Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics. It was Brown who had the epiphany, saying, “Wait, I’ve got it – the Celtics. The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York (1920s). And Boston is full of Irishman. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.” Red Auerbach , the now legendary coach of the early Celtics, then commissioned his brother Zang, a graphic d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Boston Mayors of Irish Descent, 1885-2021

(Originally published in 2013, this post was updated in 2021) Here are the Mayors of Boston Claiming Irish Heritage:  Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh   2014- 2021 The lineage of Boston mayors with Irish ancestry dates back to 1885, when Irish immigrant Hugh O'Brien of County Cork assumed office and became the first Irish-born mayor elected in Boston, serving four one-year terms (1885-88).   O'Brien was followed by Irish-born Patrick Collins (1902-05), also of County Cork, who died in office in 1905. He was replaced by John F. Fitzgerald, who became the first American-born mayor of Irish descent, serving two terms.  A noteworthy...
Post a Comment
Read more

Visit these Public Memorials to John Boyle O'Reilly throughout Massachusetts

  Born 180 years ago on June 28, 1844, John Boyle O’Reilly helped shape the history or Ireland and America in the late 19th century in powerful ways. Today, O'Reilly’s stature as a seminal figure in Irish and Irish-American history is particularly evident in his beloved birthplace of Dowth, County Meath; in Freemantle, Australia where he was imprisoned; and indeed, throughout the Irish Diaspora.  O'REILLY LANDMARKS IN MASSACHUSETTS O’Reilly remains popular in Boston, New Bedford, Hull and Springfield where there is a selection of memorials and plaques, parks and city squares, library collections and Irish organizations honoring O’Reilly’s memory. In Boston, the John Boyle O’Reilly Memorial at the corner of Boylston Street and The Fens, not far from Fenway Park, was unveiled in 1896 by famed Concord sculptor Daniel French. The Memorial is part of Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail. In Charlestown, O’Reilly lived at 34 Winthrop Street, where there is a plaque in his honor. In 1988 t...
Post a Comment
Read more