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Lord Botetourt
ArtistRichard Hayward (1772); Gordon Kray (1993)
Year1772 (1772); 1993 (1993)
MediumMarble (1772); bronze (1993)
MovementBaroque
SubjectNorborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt
ConditionDamaged (1772)
LocationEarl Gregg Swem Library (1772); Old College Yard (1993), Williamsburg, Virginia
OwnerCollege of William & Mary

Lord Botetourt is a pair of statues on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, depicting colonial Virginia governor Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt. The first of these statues was executed in 1772 by English sculptor Richard Hayward and became the first sculpture in the Colony of Virginia. It is the oldest surviving public statue in North America. The 1772 statue is a Baroque sculpture cut from marble that was ordered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1771 and installed in 1773 in the loggia of the Capitol in Williamsburg. The statue's plinth was one of the earliest major neoclassical works in British America. After a period of vandalism and neglect following the removal of Virginia's capital to Richmond, the statue was purchased by the College of William & Mary in 1801 and transferred to the College Yard on its campus.

During the 19th century, the statue suffered further damage due to vandalism and was briefly stored in Eastern State Hospital during the American Civil War. After being returned to the Old College Yard, the statue remained there until 1958, when it was moved to storage due to the damage it had sustained. In 1966, it was installed in a display inside the college's Earl Gregg Swem Library. A bronze replica by college alumnus Gordon Kray was installed on the site as part of the college's tercentenary celebrations in 1993. The statues, sometimes referred to as Lord Bot, are associated with several traditions.

Description

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The statues depict Virginia governor Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, known as Lord Botetourt, standing in contemporary court dress.[1] The original marble figure is slightly more than life-sized.[2] The design follows a medallion depicting Lord Botetourt created by sculptor Isaac Gosset.[3] The original sculptor Richard Hayward had previously created a statue of Pitt the Elder, which was also a standing figure but portrayed the subject dressed in a toga, a reflection of Pitt's status as an orator. Hayward's posing of Lord Botetourt is reminiscent of a c. 1737 depiction of Hans Sloane in the Chelsea Physic Garden by Michael Rysback.[1] The right hand, now missing, held a rolled parchment.[4] Art historian Wayne Craven found the sculpture's styling as within the Baroque tradition.[5]

The first statue's plinth was one of the earliest major pieces of Neoclassicism in British America.[6] Its height is 5 feet (1.5 m).[7] The classical ornamentation is presented in a Baroque fashion with a trim of shell, wave, and feather designs.[8] This ornamentation is Adamesque; Hayward had previously worked with Robert Adam.[9] Three sides feature inscriptions in all capital letters.[10] The front is inscribed and depicts the Berkeley arms.[11][note 1] Three sides, including the front that depicts the Berkeley arms, feature inscriptions.[1] Facing the statue's front, the right side inscription addresses Lord Botetourt's "many public and Social Virtues which so eminently adorned his character".[13][note 2]

The rear is a bas-relief of two women personifying Britannia and Virginia or America exchanging olive branches above the sacred flame of liberty on the altar of peace, which bears the word "CONCORDIA". America is depicted as an Indian princess possesses a bow and a quiver of arrows but lacks a feathered headdress, anticipating a neoclassical model of this personification that would appear several decades later.[15]

The original installation in the Capitol, located between the building's wings in its loggia, was surrounding by an iron railing that had been shipped from England with the statue.[16] The 1772 statue has sustained substantial damage since the late 1780s due to vandalism – including by students of the college – and the elements. The nose was lost, the head has fallen off several times, and its right hand is missing. It has been on display in the Earl Gregg Swem Library since 1966.[17]

1993 replica

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Gordon Kray's 1993 cast bronze Lord Botetourt followed the design of Hayward's original.[18] To replicate the original figure, casts were made.[19] Due to damage on the original, particularly to the facial region and the missing hand, Kray said he utilized other portraits of Botetourt to "fill in the blanks"and reconstruct these elements in his Lord Botetourt. Bronze was chosen as the medium for the replica statue due to its greater resilience than marble, which Kray said might prevent further damage by students. From the base of the plinth to the top of the statue, it is 12 feet (3.7 m) tall.[18]

History

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Benjamin Henry Latrobe's 1796 painting of the Lord Botetourt statue with the crumbling Capitol around it

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt, was the penultimate colonial governor of the British Colony of Virginia.[6] Lord Botetourt arrived in Williamsburg to begin his term as governor on October October 26, 1768, to a both optimistic and uncertain reception. His arrival coincided with a period of increased tension between the colonies and the British government. Botetourt proved amiable and, despite his pronounced loyalty to the Crown, was broadly popular even with aggrieved members of the House of Burgesses. In 1769, he became rector of the board of visitors of the College of William & Mary, where often joined students for Morning and Evening Prayers in the chapel of the College Building (now the Wren Building).[20] Botetourt became noted for his patronage of the liberal arts and religion. At the college, he endowed the competitively awarded gold Botetourt Medals, of which future U.S. president James Madison would be a recipient.[21] Despite dissolving the House of Burgesses over their protests to Townshend Acts in 1769, he was still well-respected in Williamsburg when he died of an illness on October 15, 1770.[22][note 3]

An outpouring of public grief accompanied Botetourt's elaborate funeral procession, which began by translating his body from the Governor's Palace to a memorial service at Bruton Parish Church before continuing to the college's chapel, where he was entombed.[24][note 4] On July 20, 1771, the Virginia General Assembly voted nemine contradicente (without dissent) to acquire "an elegant statue in marble" to commemorate Lord Botetourt.[5][note 5] That such a memorial was approved was unusual, a fact noted by numerous letters to England and within the Virginia Gazette. Only once before had the Assembly had considered a public statue, with a 1766 proposal to erect a sculpture for George III having quietly failed.[30]

The Assembly approved a budget of 700 guineas for the acquisition of the statue, a substantial amount of money for the period.[31] The appropriation also authorized a commission to seek an artist from outside the colony to create the statue, with acting governor William Nelson appointing local merchant John Norton to lead this commission.[5]

Hayward's Lord Botetourt was the first piece of sculpture in Virginia.[32] It was the second piece of pre-American Revolution to arrive in the southern colonies, after a replica of Wilton's Pitt arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1770.[33] Wilton's equestrian George III and the original Pitt, both in marble and installed in New York City in 1770, were the first and second statues in the North American colonies. Of the four full-length statues erected in North America during the British colonial period, only Hayward's Lord Botetourt survives.[34]

Through the late 18th century, Lord Botetourt became a regular subject of commentary in travelers' accounts.[35] The traveling Scottish architect William Mylne observed the statue in 1775 and wrote in a letter that he was unfamiliar with statues done with subjects dressed in attire other than that of the ancient Greeks or Romans. He also noted that the plinth as enclosed by an iron railing.[36] Despite the onset of the American Revolutionary War between the colonists and the British, the statue was cleaned every year at the opening of each General Assembly through 1779. In 1780, the capital of Virginia was moved from Williamsburg to Richmond. It was recorded as having remained in good condition through at least 1786.[37]

Soon after the capital was moved, the Capitol building began to have elements removed by Patriot troops. By 1793, the General Assembly voted to dismantle the Capitol's east wing, though this was not completed immediately.[38][note 6] The statue was vandalized and damaged A 1796 watercolor and pen painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin Henry Latrobe showed the statue and surrounding Capitol in a state of disrepair.[40][note 7] Anglo-Irish writer Isaac Weld, writing about the statue in 1798, said that he believed the damage had occurred during the Revolutionary War in an act of anti-monarchial vandalism.[41]

The statue was there at the outset of the American Civil War, where it survived an 1863 skirmish on the campus but was moved to Eastern State Hospital in 1864 to preserve it from harm. It was displayed in front of the hospital until being returned to its spot in the Old College Yard in 1874.[42]

The 1772 statue remains on display in the library's basement.[43] It is the oldest surviving public statue in North America.[44]

Critical appraisal

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American Founding Father Edmund Randolph described the statue as "not more admired for its exquisite workmanship than for being a memorial of a statesman more than great, because truly honest".[45]

Craven commented on the 1772 statue's similarities to Hyacinthe Rigaud's "grandiose" portraits of Louis XIV. He also held that the statue demonstrated "Baroque grandeur" prior to the period of "effeminate Rococo refinement".[5] Architectural historian Marcus Whiffen – noting the substantial damage to Lord Botetourt's likeness and his missing right hand – positively appraised the original statue in 1958, comparing it to the portraiture of painter Joshua Reynolds.[1] The formal stance is a mirror image of that of King's in a portrait that hung in the Governor's Palace.[7]

Holding

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Wren Building and Lord Botetourt statue, c. 1905–1926

A "scarred" 1772 statue of Virginia governor Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (also known as Lord Botetourt) by Richard Hayward that had stood in front of the Capitol was purchased by a group of William & Mary professors for $100 in 1801. It was installed in the College Yard, in front of the College Building.[46] The statue survived the 1863 skirmish on the campus but was moved to Eastern State Hospital in 1864 to preserve it from harm.[47] It was returned to campus in 1874.[48] It was moved to storage in 1958 due to damage. It was placed on display in Swem Library in 1966. A bronze replica by college alumnus Gordon Kray was installed on the site of the original during the college's tercentenary celebrations in 1993.[49] It is a school tradition to adorn the outdoor replica for the holiday season.[50]

Notes

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  1. ^ The front inscription is "THE RIGHT HONOURABLE NORBORNE BERKELEY BARON DE BOTETOURT HIS MAJESTY'S LATE LIEUTENANT AND GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE COLONY AND DOMINION OF VIRGINIA".[12]
  2. ^ The right side inscription reads "DEEPLT IMPRESS'D WITH THE WARMEST SENSE OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONBLE. LORD BOTETOURT'S PRUDENT AND WISE ADMINISTRATION, AND THAT THE REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE MANY PUBLIC AND SOCIAL VIRTUES, WHICH SO EMINENTLY ADORN'D HIS ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTER, MIGHT BE TRANSMITTED TO LATEST POSTERITY, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA ON THE XXTH. DAY OF JULY ANN; DOM; MDCCLXXI RESOLVED WITH ONE UNITED VOICE TO ERECT THIS STATUE TO HIS LORDSHIP'S MEMORY. LET WISDOM AND JUSTICE PRESIDE IN ANY COUNTRY; THE PEOPLE WILL REJOICE AND MUST BE HAPPY." The left side of the pedestal is inscribed "AMERICA, BEHOLD YOUR FRIEND WHO LEAVING HIS NATIVE COUNTRY DECLINED THOSE ADDITIONAL HONOURS WHICH WERE THERE IN STORE FOR HIM THAT HE MIGHT HEAL YOUR WOUNDS AND RESTORE TRANQUILITY AND HAPPINESS TO THIS EXTENSIVE CONTINENT; WITH WHAT ZEAL AND ANXIETY HE PURSUED THESE GLORIOUS OBJECTS, VIRGINIA, THUS BEARS HER GRATEFUL TESTIMONY."[14]
  3. ^ Despite his public displays of sympathy to the colonists' demands, Botetourt wrote privately to London that the government should not concede to them.[23]
  4. ^ Private grief and commemoration of Botetourt persisted for some time. Politician Robert Carter Nicholas Sr. assisted several of his peers in acquiring miniature portraits of the late governor and named his youngest son after Botetourt. "Models of Lord Botetourt" and "Busts of the late Lord Botetourt" were advertised in the Virginia Gazette at least as late as May 1774. These models were likely plaster miniatures of Hayward's statue, though the advertisement of busts may indicate that these were profiles done in wax or a glassy material.[25]
  5. ^ The 1771 date that the General Assembly voted on the statue was given as July 11 by Whiffen.[26] The General Assembly met from July 11 to July 20,[27] with a July 20 letter from Thomas Everard to John Norton mentioning the vote.[28] The Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia places the vote on July 20.[29]
  6. ^ Politician John Randolph of Roanoke spoke of learning at a grammar school that had moved into the decaying Capitol and walking around the statue.[39]
  7. ^ Latrobe's commentary on the structure shows that the east wing survived up to this point.[40]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d Whiffen 1958, p. 171
  2. ^ Craven 1975, p. 42
  3. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 167
  4. ^ SCRC
  5. ^ a b c d Craven 1968, p. 49
  6. ^ a b Wilson 2002
  7. ^ a b Hood 1991, p. 275
  8. ^ Craven 1968, p. 49; Smithsonian
  9. ^ Hood 1995, p. 276
  10. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 171; Hazard 1777
  11. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 171; Hazard 1777
  12. ^ Hood 1991, p. 275
  13. ^ Isaac 1999, p. 216
  14. ^ Hazard 1777; Isaac 1999, p. 216; Hood 1991, p. 275
  15. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 171; Craven 1968, p. 49; Fleming 1965; Hood 1991, p. 275–276
  16. ^ Wilson 2002; Davis 1968, p. 93; Whiffen 1958, p. 167
  17. ^ Virginian-Pilot 1993; Nunnery 2018
  18. ^ a b Virginian-Pilot 1993
  19. ^ Inker 2019
  20. ^ Lendel 2020, p. 64; History 1874, p. 42; SCRC
  21. ^ Isaac 1999, p. 216; Morpurgo 1976, p. 148–149, 155
  22. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 166; Lendel 2020, pp. 64–66; Davis 1968, p. 91
  23. ^ Lendel 2020, p. 66
  24. ^ Isaac 1999, p. 326–327; Lendel 2020, pp. 67
  25. ^ Isaac 1999, p. 213–216; Morpurgo 1976, p. 155; Hood 1995, p. 276
  26. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 167
  27. ^ Goodwin 1954
  28. ^ Everard 1771
  29. ^ Goodwin 1934, p. 40
  30. ^ Hood 1995, p. 273
  31. ^ Morpurgo 1976, p. 155; Hood 1995, p. 273
  32. ^ Fiske 1943
  33. ^ Craven 1975, p. 36
  34. ^ Craven 1968, p. 47, 50; Stainton 1983, p. 5; Hood 1995, p. 278
  35. ^ Hood 1995, p. 276–278
  36. ^ Mylne 1993
  37. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 188–190; Davis 1968, p. 93
  38. ^ Whiffen 1958, p. 189–190
  39. ^ Begg 1934
  40. ^ a b Whiffen 1958, p. 190
  41. ^ History 1874, p. 42
  42. ^ Hudson Jr. 1997, p. 75; Davis 1968, p. 93; Kale 2016, p. 91
  43. ^ Gordon 1999
  44. ^ Stainton 1983, p. 5
  45. ^ Hood 1995, p. 278
  46. ^ Wilson 2002, p. 377; Virginian-Pilot 1993; Lengel 2020, p. 65
  47. ^ Hudson Jr. 1997, p. 75
  48. ^ Kale 2016, p. 91
  49. ^ Virginian-Pilot 1993; Suslavich 2019; TribeTrek Botetourt
  50. ^ Suslavich 2019; TribeTrek Botetourt

Sources

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