Head of Victory 1897 - 1907

Augustus Saint-Gaudens made this bronze head of Victory, its date unknown, but imagining the touch of his hands on this malleable surface, I see how it's not just about rendering a face, but about feeling one into existence. Look at the texture around the laurel wreath, how he's let the bronze itself speak. I'm thinking of Rodin, of course, they were totally in dialogue, weren't they? Like all artists, pinching and borrowing and making it their own. But then, I can also imagine him thinking about ancient Greece, all those broken statues, the mystery of what’s been lost. The cool thing about sculpture, or painting, is it’s all about the hand, that gesture of touching, forming, and feeling. He probably wasn't thinking about "perfection", whatever that is. He was trying to evoke something, to catch a feeling, to make victory more than just a word. It's a conversation with history, but also with his own hands.