Fernando Miranda y Casellas
Fernando Miranda (1842 – 1925) – born Fernando Miranda y Casellas – was a Spanish-American sculptor, architectural sculptor and illustrator.
He was born in Valencia, Spain, and studied under sculptor José Piquer II. He came to the United States at the time of the 1876 Centennial Exposition, and settled in New York City.[1] He worked as an illustrator for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper for several years.
He designed a sculpture group honoring Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes to be erected in Central Park,[2] but the project was abandoned due to lack of funding. Miranda's Bust of Cervantes (c. 1878) stood in the park for more than a decade.
He designed a fountain honoring Christopher Columbus to be erected in Central Park,[3] but the park already had a statue of Columbus, along with Gaetano Russo's monument at Columbus Circle.
He was a member of the National Sculpture Society,[4] and served as first president of the American Sculpture Society.
King Alfonso XIII of Spain made him a Knight in 1890.[5]
Selected works
- Bust of Miguel de Cervantes (c. 1878), formerly placed in Central Park, New York City.
- Bas-relief of Slumber
- Head of Christ
- Bust of Columbus (c. 1892)[6]
- Sketch of Columbus and the Brothers Pinzon (c. 1892)[7]
- Four terra-cotta Angels (1895-96), American Tract Society Building, 150 Nassau Street, New York City, Robert H. Robertson, architect. The 20-foot-tall angels adorn the building's 20th floor. They were restored in 2013-14 by Boston Valley Terra Cotta.[8]
- The Spirit of Research (1898), Boston Public Library.
- George Washington (1898-99), Newark, New Jersey.
- City Hall Fountain (1906), City Hall Rotunda, Savannah, Georgia.[9]
- The Primitive Marksman – Indian Shooting at a Soaring Eagle (1907), New York Historical Society, New York City.[10][11]
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"The statue of 'The Freed Slave' in Memorial Hall" (1876). -
City Hall Fountain (1906), Savannah, Georgia.
References
- ^ Dreiser, p. 114.
- ^ "Cervantes. A Monument to be erected in Central Park to the memory of the famed Spanish Writer," The New York Herald, May 18, 1878.
- ^ Néstor Ponce de León, "Columbus Fountain, New York City," The Columbus Gallery: The 'Discoverer of the New World' as represented in Portraits, Monuments, Statues, Medals and Paintings (1893), pp. 120-21.[1]
- ^ American Art Directory, volume 5 (1905), p. 217.
- ^ Dreiser, p. 114.
- ^ Bust of Columbus
- ^ "The National Sculpture Society," Godey's Magazine, vol. 81, no. 781 (July 1895), p. 78.
- ^ Restoring Fallen "Angels," from Boston Valley ARCH Design Lab.
- ^ City Hall Fountain, from SIRIS.
- ^ The Primitive Marksman, from SIRIS.
- ^ The Primitive Marksman, from Flickr.
Sources
- Theodore Dreiser, "The Sculpture of Fernando Miranda," Ainslee's Magazine 2 (September 1898), pp. 113-18.[2]