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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com
Gardiner’s William Clark Noble A renowned sculptor
by James Nalley
T
he Maine State House in Augusta was built in 1832, just one year after the city became the capital. Previously topped by a cupola, the building was remodeled in 1909–1910 and the cupola was replaced by the current copper dome rising to 185 feet. However, it is the draped female figure that adorns the dome that makes it special. Although commonly confused for Athena (the Greek Goddess of Wisdom), it was created and donated by a Gardiner-born man who called it the Lady of Wisdom. In this regard, her upraised right arm symbolizes the city of Augusta, while the pine torch in her hand represents the state of Maine. He would go on to win numerous sculpting competitions and commissions, many of which were monuments of well-known
figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. William Clark Noble was born in Gardiner on February 10, 1858. He and his older brother were raised by his maternal grandfather after his father, a ship’s captain, was lost at sea. According to his biographical article by the Bronze Gallery (1998), “Noble showed great fondness for art at an early age, spending many hours modeling animals in the local clay near his grandfather’s home. He then decided that he was going to become a full-time sculptor at the age of eight, after reading the life story of the Danish sculptor Berthel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844).” Thorvaldsen had made a name for himself as an award-winning sculptor, maintaining a large workshop in the city of Rome, It-
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aly. His patrons resided all over Europe and he was considered a national hero upon his return to Denmark. In 1870 his grandfather died, after which 12-year-old Noble went to Boston and became an apprentice to an architectural sculptor for three years. He continued his studies in art with the American painter Charles Franklin Pierce (1844–1920) and the American sculptor Richard Greenough (1819– 1904) in Boston. In 1879, Noble opened his first studio in Newport, Rhode Island. After gaining a reputation in the region for his detailed sculptures, he was naturally chosen to create the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1890) at Congdon Park in historic Newport. The monument consists of a bronze statue (cont. on page 30)
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