Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Natural Habitat | Page 12

Fine Art at Risk!
by Meg L. Winslow, Curator of Historical Collections
When is a monument a work of art?
Beyond its beauty as a work of art and stunning outdoor
Walking among the many marble memorials set within
sculpture, the statue is also significant because it is associ-
Mount Auburn’s landscape, what is it that catches your eye
ated with two extraordinary 19th century women: the
and draws you in? For me, it is the sculpted profile of the
pioneering physician Dr. Harriot Kezia Hunt, who com-
Greek goddess, Hygeia, marking Dr.
missioned the monument for her grave,
Harriot Kezia Hunt’s grave on Poplar
and the expatriate sculptor Edmonia
Avenue. The scale of this figure and the
Lewis (1844-c. 1901), who carved it.
grace of its form are striking, even from
Lewis was the first person of color
a distance. Despite its worn condition
from America to receive international
the figure’s gesture of gentle dignity, the
recognition as a sculptor, and very few
softly draping folds of her robe and the
examples of her work survive.
commanding presence of her pose show
At the time of the Hunt commission,
the genius of the artist. Although the
Lewis was the only professional Ameri-
sculpture’s finer details have been elimi-
can artist living and working in Rome.
nated by time, the statue is still captivat-
She was born to an African Ameri-
ing to behold.
can father and a Chippewa (Ojibwa)
Many marble monuments from the
mother. Both her parents died within a
19th century have been damaged by
few years of her birth. After her educa-
acid rain and snow and by the freeze/
tion at Oberlin College in Ohio, she
thaw cycles of our New England cli-
moved to Boston in 1863. She became
mate. Many lack documentation con-
a sculptor specializing in depiction of
cerning the sculptors who carved them.
abolitionist and Civil War heroes. In fact,
But if they are anything like Hygeia, they
she financed her trip to Italy by sell-
are works of fine art that were designed
ing copies of her bust of Robert Gould
to be placed outdoors, even with the
Shaw, commander of the famous 54th
inherent fragility of the marble. These
regiment of Civil War African Ameri-
works of art deserve the same timely
can soldiers. Lewis was recognized for
and consistent care we give to Mount
bringing a naturalistic approach to the
Statue of Hygeia by Edmonia Lewis,
commissioned in 1870 by Dr. Harriot
Auburn’s horticultural treasures. There-
neoclassical tradition of sculpture.
Hunt for her lot at Mount Auburn.
fore, our preservation staff maintains
Harriot Hunt, who had a hand in the
Hygeia, gently washing it periodically and
design of the sculpture, was one of the first female physi-
removing organic growth such as moss and lichen from its
cians in Boston, an early feminist reformer and an aboli-
surface. But this is not enough. To keep the statue recog-
tionist. The daughter of a ship joiner, she was born in the
nizable, we need the
city’s North End. After her education and the illness of her
help of professional
younger sister, she studied homeopathic medicine. When
conservators.
she was refused admission to Harvard Medical School, the
We cannot reverse
Female Medical College of Philadelphia gave her an hon-
a century of erosion,
orary doctor of medicine in 1853.
but we can slow the
Hygeia is a great work of art. It is also a testament to the
process of deteriora-
talent and tenacity of 19th-century women.
tion. One option
under consideratoin
Detail of Hygeia, showing graceful carv-
is
to design a protec-
ing despite environmental deterioration
[Hygeia is on Poplar Avenue. It is also on the Cemetery’s
tive cover to shield
public map and is highlighted on our African American
this statue from the elements, which, if successful, could
Heritage Trail Guide to Mount Auburn.]
be used as a prototype to shelter other fragile, significant
monuments. A priority for Mount Auburn is to raise the
funds to commission such a design study and move forward
with the preservation of Hygeia.
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