Part 32 (1/2)
MANOEL FRANCISCO DE BARROS Y SOUZA, VISCOUNT SANTAREM, a noted Portuguese diplomatist and writer. Born at Lisbon, 1790; died, 1856.
If Columbus was not the first to discover America, he was, at least, the man who _re_discovered it, and in a positive and definite shape communicated the knowledge of it. For, if he verified what the Egyptian priest indicated to Solon, the Athenian, as is related by Plato in the Timoeus respecting the Island of Atlantis; if he realized the hypothesis of Actian; if he accomplished the prophecy of Seneca in the Medea; if he demonstrated that the story of the mysterious Carthaginian vessel, related by Aristotle and Theophrastus, was not a dream; if he established by deeds that there was nothing visionary in what St.
Gregory pointed at in one of his letters to St. Clement; if, in a word, Columbus proved by his discovery the existence of the land which Madoc had visited before him, as Hakluyt and Powell pretended; and ascertained for a certainty that which for the ancients had always been so uncertain, problematical, and mysterious--his glory becomes only the more splendid, and more an object to command admiration.
THE SANTIAGO BUST.
At Santiago, Chili, a marble bust of Columbus is to be found, with a face modeled after the De Bry portrait, an ill.u.s.tration of which latter appears in these pages. The bust has a Dutch cap and garments.
THE ST. LOUIS STATUE.
In the city of St. Louis, Mo., a statue of Columbus has been erected as the gift of Mr. Henry D. Shaw. It consists of a heroic-sized figure of Columbus in gilt bronze, upon a granite pedestal, which has four bronze _ba.s.so relievos_ of the princ.i.p.al events in his career. The face of the statue follows the Genoa model, and the statue was cast at Munich.
SOUTHERN AMERICA'S TRIBUTE.
At Lima, Peru, a fine group of statuary was erected in 1850, representing Columbus in the act of raising an Indian girl from the ground. Upon the front of the marble pedestal is the simple dedication: ”a Cristoval Colon” (To Christopher Columbus), and upon the other three faces are appropriate nautical designs.
THE STATUE IN BOSTON.
In addition to the Iasigi statue, Boston boasts of one of the most artistic statues to Columbus, and will shortly possess a third. ”The First Inspiration of the Boy Columbus” is a beautiful example of the work of Signor G. Monteverde, a celebrated Italian sculptor. It was made in Rome, in 1871, and, winning the first prize of a gold medal at Parma, in that year, was presented to the city of Boston by Mr. A. P.
Chamberlain of Concord, Ma.s.s. It represents Columbus as a youth, seated upon the capstan of a vessel, with an open book in his hand, his foot carelessly swinging in an iron ring. In addition to this statue, a _replica_ of the Old Isabella statue (described on page 171, _ante_), is, it is understood, to be presented to the city.
STATUE AT GENOA.
In the Red Palace, Genoa, a statue of Columbus has been erected representing him standing on the deck of the Santa Maria, behind a padre with a cross. The pedestal of the statue is ornamented with prows of caravels, and on each side a mythological figure represents Discovery and Industry.
THE STATUE AT PALOS.
Now in course of erection to commemorate the discovery, and under the auspices of the Spanish government, is a n.o.ble statue at Palos, Spain.
It consists of a fluted column of the Corinthian order of architecture, capped by a crown, supporting an orb, surmounted by a cross. The orb bears two bands, one about its equator and the other representing the zodiac. On the column are the names of the Pinzon brothers, Martin and Vicente Yanez; and under the prows of the caravels, ”Colon,” with a list of the persons who accompanied him. The column rests upon a prismatic support, from which protrude four prows, and the pedestal of the whole is in the shape of a tomb, with an Egyptian-like appearance.
THE STATUE IN PHILADELPHIA.
In Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa., there is placed a statue of Columbus, which, originally exhibited at the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia, in 1876, was presented to the Centennial Commission by the combined Italian societies of Philadelphia.
THE STEBBINS STATUE.
In Central Park, New York City, is located an artistic statue, the gift of Mrs. Marshall O. Roberts, and the work of Miss Emma Stebbins. The figure of Columbus is seven feet high, and represents him as a sailor with a mantle thrown over his shoulder. The face is copied from accepted portraits of the Giovian type.
SANTO DOMINGOAN CANNON.
When Columbus was made a prisoner in Santo Domingo, the governor, who arrested him, feared there might be an attempt at rescue, so he trained a big gun on the entrance of the citadel, or castle, in which Columbus was confined. That cannon laid in the same place until Mr. Ober, a World's Fair representative, recovered it, and, with the permission of the Governor of Santo Domingo, brought it to the United States. It is on exhibition at the World's Fair.
THE SANTA MARIA CARAVEL.