od Bethune’ s tatuary Hall
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From Marble to Masterpiece
Artist Nilda Comas is the first Hispanic Master Sculptor selected to create a statue for the National Statuary Hall State Collection. She was selected after a national search and was chosen from a field of 1,600 applicants. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the New York Academy and studied at the Accademia di Belli Arte in Carrara, Italy.
Comas began with intensive research at the Congressional Archives, the State of Florida Archives and Bethune-Cookman University.
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Michelangelo’ s Gift
Cut from the Italian Alps and quarries above Pietrasanta, Italy, the piece of marble used by artist Nilda Comas represents the largest – and last – piece of statuary marble from the quarry.
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The marble from the quarries is the same used by Michelangelo to create his famous statue of David. It is said Michelangelo himself opened the caves in the mountains that had been abandoned by the ancient Romans to find the marble.
The Pride of Florida
The completed statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was unveiled in the United States Capitol on July 13, 2022. The statue represents Florida in the National Statuary Hall State Collection alongside the state’ s other statue— Dr. John Gorrie, considered the father of refrigeration and air conditioning— who has represented Florida since 1914.
Dr. McLeod Bethune is the first Black American to be represented in the Collection.
SEPTEMBER 2025 | 31 |