Martin Milmore
Encyclopedia
Milmore immigrated to Boston from Sligo, Ireland at age seven, graduated from Boston Latin School
Boston Latin School
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school founded on April 23, 1635, in Boston, Massachusetts. It is both the first public school and oldest existing school in the United States....
in 1860, took art lessons at the Lowell Institute
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is an educational foundation in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., providing for free public lectures, and endowed by the bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell, Jr., who died in 1836. Under the terms of his will 10% of the net income was to be added to the principal, which in...
, and learned to carve in wood and stone from his older brother Joseph (1841–1886). He entered the studio of Thomas Ball
Thomas Ball (artist)
Thomas Ball was an American artist and musician. His work has had a marked influence on monumental art in the United States, especially in New England.-Life:...
of Charlestown
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...
in his early teens and stayed until the mid-1860s. His first sculptures seem to have been cabinet-size busts of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
(New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord) and Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...
, both modeled from life around 1863. In the 1860s he worked from the Studio Building
Studio Building (Boston, Massachusetts)
The Studio Building on Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts, housed artists' studios, theatre companies and other businesses in the 19th century. It "held the true Bohemia of Boston, where artists and literati delighted to gather." Among the tenants were portraitist E.T...
.
By his 20th birthday Milmore received a commission for three giant figures ("Ceres", "Flora" and "Pomona") for the front of the Horticultural Hall
Horticultural Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Horticultural Hall, at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, was built in 1901. It sits across the street from Symphony Hall. Since 1992, it has been owned by the Christian Science Church...
in Boston; they are now on display at the Elm Bank Horticulture Center
Elm Bank Horticulture Center
The Elm Bank Horticulture Center is the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, located at 900 Washington Street , Wellesley, Massachusetts, U.S....
. He subsequently designed the Roxbury Soldiers' Monument at Forest Hills Cemetery
Forest Hills Cemetery
Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic cemetery, greenspace, arboretum and sculpture garden located in the Forest Hills section of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery was designed in 1848.-Overview:...
in Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts (1867), the American Sphinx in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery was founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", with classical monuments set in a rolling landscaped terrain...
(1872), the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Boston)
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common at Boston, in the U.S. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was erected in memory of Massachusetts soldiers and sailors who died in the U.S. Civil War. Designed by Martin Milmore, construction began in 1874 and the monument was dedicated on September...
for the Boston Common (1877), and a bust of Senator Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...
, now displayed in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
After Milmore died at the age of 38, Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor. His best-known work is the sculpture of a seated Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.-Life and career:...
created a memorial tribute entitled Death and the Sculptor
Death and the Sculptor
Death and the Sculptor, also known as the Milmore Monument and The Angel of Death and the Young Sculptor is a sculpture in bronze, and one of the most important and influential works of art, created by sculptor Daniel Chester French...
for the grave of Milmore and his brother in Forest Hills Cemetery.