His statue of "Eve," which had preceded "The
Greek Slave" by a year, had been pronounced by Thorwaldsen fit to be any
man's master-piece, but it had not created such a furore as "The Greek
Slave." Subsequently he made an exquisite bust of the Grand Duchess of
Tuscany, with which the Grand Duke was so pleased that he called on
Powers, and asked him as a favor to himself to apply to him whenever he
could do him a service. Powers asked permission to take a cast of the
Venus, and this much-coveted boon, which had been denied to other
artists for years, was at once granted to him.
Since then his works have been numerous. Among these are "The Fisher
Boy," of which three duplicates in marble have been made;
"Il Penseroso;" "Proserpine," a bust; "California;" "America," modeled
for the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, England; "Washington" and "Calhoun,"
portrait statues, the former for the State of Louisiana, and the latter
for the State of South Carolina; and "Benjamin Franklin" and "Thomas
Jefferson," in the Capitol at Washington. His works are all marked by
beauty and vigor of conception as well as by exquisite finish.
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