Carol A. Grissom
Abstract
In anticipation of the reopening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 2006, William Rimmer’s plaster model for The Falling Gladiator (1862) received conservation treatment and in-depth study. The self-trained American sculptor had modeled the statue in clay without using an armature while working in an unheated basement in Massachusetts beginning in February 1862. When the clay predictably began to fail, he had the partially completed statue cast in plaster, and he completed most of the modeling afterward in plaster. This original plaster model was given to the Smithsonian by the sculptor’s daughter in 1915 after a checkered existence that included at least two campaigns of molding for copies, the second for posthumous bronzes cast in 1907. Since its arrival at the Smithsonian in two crates, the statue was badly damaged by a falling ladder in the 1940s, and, after repair, it continued to be repainted periodically. By the twenty-first century, the statue had been coated with enough paint that Rimmer’s famously articulated musculature was obscured. Treatment included removal of paint and resurfacing of old plaster fills. Acrylic paint was airbrushed onto damaged and stained surfaces to integrate the statue. Despite multiple cuttings, poor reassembly in the past, and breakage, the statue now reads surprisingly well as a sculpture.
Of particular interest to the curator was identification of the statue’s original features and fabrication. After paint was removed, traces could be found of divisions of the clay model into about 8 sections for casting, as well as evidence of the molding of each section in two-part waste molds. Relatively intact portions of the statue indicated that the plaster had been professionally cast, contrary to early literature, and that the sculptor had finished it beautifully. Scrutiny of photographs taken 20 years after fabrication, however, suggested that it had been cut into about 20 pieces and put back together soon after it was made. It is hypothesized that this occurred as early as 1864 when a plaster copy was made for exhibition in Europe. X-radiography revealed thick armatures inside weight-bearing areas and thinner irons spanning seams in the right upper arm, left wrist, right heel, lower left leg, and hips. Since it would be impossible to section the plaster with the irons in place, it was determined that they must have been added when the statue was reassembled after being cut into pieces.