Saul under the Influence of the Evil Spirit
Artist
William Wetmore Story
American, 1819–1895, active in Italy 1856–1895
DateModeled 1858–1863; carved 1864–1865
MediumMarble with original base in three sections
Dimensions(Figure): 64 × 34 × 64 1/2 in. (162.6 × 86.4 × 163.8 cm); approx. 4500 lbs. ( 2041.2 kg)
(Base): 34 1/2 × 39 1/2 × 68 3/4 in (87.6 × 100.3 × 174.6 cm); approx 4350 lbs. (1973.1 kg)
(Base): 34 1/2 × 39 1/2 × 68 3/4 in (87.6 × 100.3 × 174.6 cm); approx 4350 lbs. (1973.1 kg)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of Anne Faircloth and Frederick Beaujeu-Dufour in honor of John W. Coffey
Object number2018.10/a-c
On View
On viewPublished References“Fine Art Gossip,” The Athenaeum (London) (February 28, 1863), 302.
W. “Art in Rome,” The Athenaeum (London) (June 6, 1863), 748.
“Art,” American Publishers’ Circular and Literary Gazette (July 1, 1863), 205–6.
“The Editor’s Easy Chair,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (New York), vol. 160 (September 1863), 566–67.
W. M. Rossetti, “Fine Arts Record,” Fine Arts Quarterly Review (London), vol. 1 (December 1863), 439.
The Round Table (New York), vol. 1 (December 19, 1863), 12.
Evening Post (New York), (__January 1865). Reprinted Chicago Tribune (January 11, 1865), 2; and in other U.S. newspapers.
“The Dublin International Exhibition,” Dublin Weekly Nation (April 1, 1865), 510.
“The Roman Court in the Exhibition” (letter from the London Morning Post’s correspondent, Rome, dated March 23, 1865), Dublin Daily Express (April 5, 1865), 4. Reprinted with minor changes in Dublin Evening Post (April 6, 1865), 4; Evening Freeman (Dublin) (April 6, 1875), 4; and Penny Despatch and Irish Weekly Newspaper (Dublin) (April 8, 1865), 3; supplement to The Irish Times (Dublin) (May 10, 1865), 6.
Pall Mall Gazette (London) (May 4, 1865), 6.
“The Dublin International Exhibition,” Morning Post (London) (May 8, 1865), 5.
“Opening of the Exhibition,” Saunders’s News-Letter and Daily Advertiser (Dublin) (May 10, 1865), 2.
Freeman’s Journal (Dublin) (May 10, 1865), 6.
“Irish International Exhibition: The Sculpture Gallery,” Freeman’s Journal (Dublin) (May 11, 1865), 4. Reprinted in The Tralee Chronicle and Killarney Echo (Tralee, Co. Kerry, Ireland) (May 16, 1865), 4.
“Opening of the International Exhibition by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales,” The Freemen’s Journal (Dublin) 6. Reprinted in The Hull Advertiser (Hull, UK) (May 13, 1865), 3.
“The Dublin International Exhibition,” The Scotsman (Midlothian, UK) (May 13, 1865), 3.
“The International Exhibition,” Freeman’s Journal (Dublin) (May 16, 1865), 4.
“The Dublin Exhibition,” Morning Post (London) (May 17, 1865), 6. Reprinted as “The Sculpture in the International Exhibition,” Dublin Evening Mail (May 18, 1865), 3.
“The Dublin Exhibition,” Morning Post (London) (May 19, 1865), 6.
“The Dublin International Exhibition,” The Scotsman (Edinburgh) (May 19, 1865), 3.
“The Dublin Exhibition,” London Evening Standard (June 1, 1865), 5. Reprinted June 2, 1865, 3. Reprinted as “Works of Art in the Dublin Exhibition,” Illustrated Weekly News (London) (June 10, 1865), 4.
“Dublin International Fair,” New York Herald (June 28, 1865); reprinted in Chicago Tribune (July 14, 1865), 3.
“Dublin International Exhibition, 1865,” Saunders’s New-Letter and Daily Advertiser (Dublin) (July 17, 1865), 2.
“The Dublin International Exhibition,” Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) (July 18, 1865), 3.
“A Visit to the Dublin Exhibition,” Coleraine Chronicle (Londonderry, Ireland) (July 29, 1865), 2.
“The International Exhibition,” Freeman’s Journal (Dublin) (July 31, 1865), 3.
“The Dublin Exhibition of 1865,” Temple Bar (London) (August 1865), 57.
“The Fine Arts and the Art-Manufacturers in the Dublin International Exhibition,” Illustrated London News (August 19, 1865), 167.
“The American Sculptor Story,” Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) (September 13, 1865), 6.
Frances Power Cobbe, “Ireland and Her Exhibition in 1865,” Fraser’s Magazine, vol. 72 (October 1865), 422.
“The Dublin Exhibition,” Pall Mall Gazette (London) (October 24, 1865), 5.
Boston Daily Advertiser (October 26, 1865), quoted by Jan Seidler Ramirez in letter to Michael H. C. Martin, published in Saul at Rendcomb College (Rendcomb, UK: Old Rendcombian Society, 2016[?]).
J. H. P., “The Fine Arts at the Dublin International Exhibition of 1865,” The Month (London), vol. 3 (July–December 1865), 187.
James Jackson Jarves, The Art-Idea: Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture in America (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1865), 283.
Henry T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists: American Artist Life (New York: G. P. Putnam & Son, 1867), 578.
Elizabeth Rogers Payne, “Anne Whitney: Nineteenth Century Sculptor and Liberal,” unpublished manuscript, 655. Anne Whitney Papers, MSS-004, Wellesley College Archives, Wellesley, MA. [entry from May 6, 1867]
Adolf Stahr & Fanny Lewand, Ein Winter in Rom (Berlin: J. Guttentag, 1869), 334–35.
James Redpath, “John Rogers, Sculptor,” Caster Bells (April 1870).
James Jackson Jarves, Art Thoughts: The Experiences and Observations of an American Amateur in Europe (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1871), 311–12.
Mary E. Phillips, Reminiscences of William Wetmore Story (Chicago & New York: Rand, McNally & Co., 1897), 148–49.
Henry James, William Wetmore Story and His Friends, vol. 2 (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1903), 123, 136, 158.
Lorado Taft, The History of American Sculpture (New York: Macmillan Co., 1903), noted 150.
Rendcomb College Magazine (Rendcomb, UK), vol. 8 (March 1947), 10 [notes Saul decorated as Santa for Christmas party].
Rendcomb College Chronicle (Rendcomb, UK), vol. 9 (March 1951), 10 [notes Saul decorated as a Roman emperor for Christmas party].
Rendcomb College Chronicle (Rendcomb, UK), vol. 11 (March 1957), 13 [notes Saul decorated as a “gipsy fortune-teller for Christmas party].
Rendcomb College Chronicle (Rendcomb, UK), vol. 13 (March 1963), 8 [notes Saul decorated as Satan for Christmas party].
William H. Gerdts, “William Wetmore Story,” American Art Journal, vol. 4 (November 1972), 16–33.
David H. Wallace, “The Art of John Rogers: ‘So Real and So True’,” American Art Journal 4 (November 1972), 65.
Frank di Federico and Julia Markus, “The Influence of Robert Browning on the Art of William Wetmore Story,” Browning Institute Studies, vol. 1 (1973), discussed 68–69.
Joseph Everett, “Saul” (poem), The Rendcomb Magazine (Rendcomb College, Rendcomb, UK), vol.18 (May 1978), 27, illus. (print after Saul), 26.
Wayne Craven, Sculpture in America (Newark: University of Delaware Press, rev. ed. 1864), 279–80.
Jan M. Seidler, “A Critical Reappraisal of the Career of William Wetmore Story (1819–1895), American Sculptor and Man of Letters,” Ph.D. diss. (Boston University, 1985), 372–75, 406.
David Sells, A History of Rendcomb College, vol. 2 (Upton upon Severn, UK: Images Publishing, 1995), illus. (b-w) 28.
Rendcombian (Rendcomb College, Rendcomb, UK), no. 18 (September 2000), illus. (color) [Saul draped in ivy and flowers for Spring Ball] back cover.
Michael Martin, “Saul,” Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter (Rendcomb, UK), 30th ed. (2004), 4–6, illus. (b-w) 5.
Elizabeth Powers, “‘Interrogation of the Past’: Henry James and William Wetmore Story,” Arion, v.16 (Fall 2006), 60.
Gerard Benson, “Memories: Saul’s Toe,” Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter (Rendcomb, UK), 37th ed. (May 2011), 17.
“Saul,” Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter (Rendcomb, UK), 42 ed. (2016), 61, illus. (color); also Graham Jordon, “Goodbye to Saul,” (poem), 62.
Michael H. C. Martin, Saul at Rendcomb College (Rendcomb, UK: Old Rendcombian Society, 2016 [?]).
Bob Edy, “Saul,” Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter (Rendcomb, UK), 44th ed. (2018), 64–66.
Martha Waggoner, “Museum acquires statue, complete with glitter, nail polish,” Washington Post (December 21, 2018)
“North Carolina Museum of acquires monumental statue by American artist William Wetmore Story,” artdaily.org (December 21, 2018), discussed and illus. (color). http://artdaily.com/news/110055/North-Carolina-Museum-of-Art-acquires-monumental-statue-by-American-artist-William-Wetmore-Story#.XB1W9C2ZMhU accessed December 21, 2018.
Deena ElGenaidi, “Tate Acquires Sylvia Pankhurst’s Watercolors and North Carolina Museum of Art Acquires William Wetmore Sculpture,” Hyperallergic (December 28, 2018), briefly discussed and illus. (color). https://hyperallergic.com/477552/tate-acquires-sylvia-pankhursts-watercolors-and-north-carolina-museum-of-art-acquires-william-wetmore-sculpture/ accessed December 28, 2018.
John W. Coffey, “Saul: The Wayward King,” Old Rendcombian Society Newsletter (Rendcomb, UK), 45th edition (2019), 61–63, illus.
Exhibition HistoryDublin, Ireland, “International Exhibition of Arts and Manufactures,” May 9–November 10, 1865, listed in cat. as sculpture no. 23 (as Saul under the Influence of the Evil Spirit) for sale £2000.
[Possibly Manchester, U.K., Manchester Mechanic’s Institution,” Grand Winter Exhibition,” December 1865–January 1866.]
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