El Cid Campeador: OMOM Essay 54

I first heard of the Cid while studying in Spain, where he's a national hero on a par with George Washington in the United States. Thus it was a surprise to read the prestigious 1911 Britannica's disparaging estimate of him. I used this to raise the question of how one should properly evaluate a historical figure: by the standards of his own time, or of one's own?

"About the Sculpture" identifies the theme based on the details of the sculpture. In "Getting More Enjoyment from Art You Love" (The Objective Standard 1:2, Summer 2006) I discuss the Cid's theme at greater length and compare it to the equestrian George Washington at Union Square (Essay 13). The TOS article includes a photo of the Hispanic Society courtyard, where the Cid is the center of an ensemble.

In Appendix A, section 3 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan, I show how to evaluate the Cid in esthetic, philosophical, emotional and art historical terms.

Joan of Arc: OMOM Essay 44

"About the Sculpture" discusses why a basic knowledge of Western civilization is a requirement for looking at Western sculpture. An early draft also included quite a lengthy description of the process by which I identified the theme of Joan of Arc. For the sake of better flow in the main text, most of that description was eventually shifted to "How to Read a Sculpture" (Appendix A in Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan) as a practical demonstration of how to work out a theme.

"About the Subject" sketches Joan's role in the battle between the French and English kings in 1428.

This is another difficult sculpture to photograph. From the hillside below one can barely see Joan's face, and her sword - a crucial element in the composition - tends to disappear against surrounding trees and buildings. After dozens of attempts at various times of day and year, I finally happened to take the photo that appears in the book, in which the light hits her sword and makes it stand out from the background.

Jose Marti: OMOM Essay 33

In "About the Sculpture" I return to the matter of selectivity, in this case the artist's choice of what moment to show in a portrait sculpture. This segues in "About the Subject" to why Marti is shown as he's dying - i.e., why his death in 1895 helped him become a hero to Cuba's multitude of political factions.

The caliber of Marti's writing was a pleasant surprise. His description of the Blizzard of 1888 in New York is extremely evocative. On the other hand, the philosophy behind his political writings is confusing, to say the least.

On the Forgotten Delights site you can see my favorite photo of Marti, which again was not high enough resolution to use in Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan. Why didn't I simply retake that photo at a higher resolution? Not so easy with an outdoor sculpture. The time of day and the angle of view I can replicate; the time of the year and the cloud cover I cannot.