Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 4.djvu/31

 \ IRGIXIA BlOGKAi'in'

face is irradiated as if a heavenly vision, hidden from the material eye, were indeed vouchsafed to those sightless orbs. This figure, with the classic group "Andromache and Astyanax," which Mr. Valentine con- siders his masterpiece, and which was the center of attraction in the Virginia House at the Columbia Exposition, is still in his pos- session. The last was suggested by the parting of Hector and his wife, when the hero enjoins her to "busy herself with the household, leaving war to men." The spindle the emblem of womanly industry, lying idle across her lap, shows how vainly she has striven to obey this behest, while the eyes, full of direful foreboding, look into space. With the intuition of childhood Astyanax divines the sorrow in his mother's heart, and leaning upon her knee, with a smile dimpling his upturned face, endeavors with baby wiles to woo her back to happiness. Every accessory of the group is from the antique, showing the most careful study, while the classic face of Andromache is that of the beautiful bride of the sculptor's youth.

The work which gained for him the wid- est recognition, however, is the recumbent figure of Lee in the mausoleum attached to the chapel of Washington and Lee Univer- sity, for which he received fifteen thousand dollars. Eaultless in detail, it is so impres- sive as a whole, that none can be insensible to its effect. It is as if the man himself were imprisoned in the stone — the living soul breathed into it by the creative power of genius. Thousands who visit the historic spot stand in awed silence by the marble couch upon which the hero has "lain down to pleasant dreams," and turning away, tread softly and speak in whispers lest they should awaken him.

Like all who strive for immortality, Mr. X'alentine works slowly. He is his own most severe critic and spares neither labor nor expense in the execution of his ideas. Often when assured by others that a piece of work is perfect, he goes on touching and retouch- ing with the simple rejoinder : "You see, I know how it ought to look." (From "Val- entine's Work with The Chisel," Gilberta S. Whittle, in Baltimore American).

Edward Virginius Valentine was born in

Richmond, Virginia, November 12, 1838,

youngest son of Mann Satterwhite (q. v.)

and Elizabeth (Mosby) Valentine. The

v^world in which he was born was replete

VlR-2

with beautiful objects whose silent influence molded him into a form to l^e fixed by after experience. He was well educated in the schools of Alexander Martin, Socrates Mauphin, Volger and Patton, and William L). Stuart, also having the advantages of pri- \ate tutors. Association with his brother, Mann Valentine, whose chemical discovery gave him world-wide renown, awakened his interest in anatomy, which resulted m his attending a course of lectures on anatomy at the Medical College in Richmond. He gained his first desire to draw and model in 1853, when as a boy of fifteen years he at- tended the World's Fair in the Crystal Pal- ace in New York. There the group "Amazon Attacked by a Tiger" by Kiss, so impressed him that he at once began the study of drawing and modeling. Although he ob- tained the best instruction his own city afforded him, he went to Paris in 1859 to avail himself of the better opportunities that art centre aft'orded. There he learned to draw from the nude under Couture, and later under Jouft'roy. In Florence he took lessons from Boniauti, and later in Berlin was a pupil of Kiss, whose creations inspired him to devote himself to art. Kiss was averse to taking pupils, but yielded to the young man's persuasions. The great artist died suddenly while young Valentine was with him. and in recognition of the friend- ship existing between master and pupil, the widow presented him with many valuable art treasures, including the tools used by Kiss, and offered him the free use of the master's former atelier.

Mr. Valentine remained in Europe study- ing under noted teachers and visiting the great art centres of Italy until the close of the war between the states. He was temp- ted by offers from New York, but he re- fused all off"ers, and in 1865 opened a studio in Richmond, his native city. Here he has ever continued his work from the very first attracting favorable attention, and finally gaining him a secure place as one of the great sculptors of his day. His first Amer- ican work was a succession of busts of the noted Confederate generals. Stuart. Mosby, Maury, Jackson, Albert Sidney Johnston, and many men of eminence in the profes- sions. His most famous work, the "Re- cumbent Statue of Lee" was unveiled at Lexington, Virginia, June 28, 1883. The figure of marble, life size, represents Gen-