Franklin Bachelder Simmons (January 11, 1839 – December 8, 1913) was a prominent American sculptor of the nineteenth century.[1][2] Three of his statues are in the National Statuary Hall Collection, three of his busts are in the United States Senate Vice Presidential Bust Collection, and his statue of Ulysses S. Grant is in the United States Capitol Rotunda.

Simmons, sculptor
Bust of William B. Wood. Located in the Reference Department of the Lewiston Public Library.

Biography

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Simmons was born in Webster, Maine. He spent most of his childhood in Bath, Maine and Lewiston, Maine. He attended Bates College (then called the Maine State Seminary) in 1858. Simmons started sculpting and painting during childhood. He studied with John Adams Jackson.[3]

During the last two years of the American Civil War, he moved to Washington, D.C., and modeled 24 portrait medallions of President Abraham Lincoln, his Cabinet, and generals and admirals.[4] The Union League of Philadelphia purchased most of the medallions. In 1867 Simmons received an honorary A.M. from Bates College and from Colby.

Simmons went to live in Rome in 1868, but returned several times. Among his portrait busts are those of David D. Porter, James G. Blaine, Francis Wayland, and Ulysses S. Grant (1886). He is said to have made a female statue of The Wanderer, meant to depict a Jewess wandering in the desert.[5] He died in Rome, aged 74, and is buried in the Protestant Cemetery.[6]

Selected works

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Equestrian Statue of Major General John A. Logan (1892–1901), Logan Circle, Washington, D.C.

Union League of Philadelphia

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Civil War portrait medallions (1865), Union League of Philadelphia

United States Capitol

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Peace Monument (marble, 1877), United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.
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References

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  1. ^ "FRANKLIN SIMMONS DEAD. - American Sculptor Designecl Grant and Logan Monuments" (PDF). The New York Times. December 9, 1913. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. ^ "American Neoclassical Sculpture". Portland Art Museum. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  3. ^ "Charles W. Fairbanks". United States Senate. Archived from the original on February 22, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  4. ^ Dizionario degli Artisti Italiani Viventi: pittori, scultori, e Architetti., by Angelo de Gubernatis. Tipe dei Successori Le Monnier, 1889, page 480.
  5. ^ De Gubernatis, 1905.
  6. ^ "Databases of Burials in the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome". Protestant Cemetery, Rome. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  7. ^ Lillian Whiting, "Franklin Simmons", The Twentieth Century Magazine, Volume 1 (Google eBook) (Twentieth Century Company, 1910), pg. 202
  8. ^ "Penelope". FRAME Museums. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  9. ^ "Ellen Crane Memorial Sculpture Gallery". Berkshire Museum. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2006.
  10. ^ "Jochebed (Mother of Moses) | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston". Mfa.org. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  11. ^ "Collection | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". Metmuseum.org. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  12. ^ "Portrait Bust of Robert Treat Paine | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston". Mfa.org. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  13. ^ Gobetz, Wally (August 10, 2008). "Pennsylvania - Valley Forge: Washington Memorial Chapel - …". Flickr. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  14. ^ "The Peace Monument | Architect of the Capitol | United States Capitol". Aoc.gov. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  15. ^ "Ulysses S. Grant, (sculpture)". Siris-artinventories.si.edu. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
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