The Children of Prescott Hall Butler 1880 - 1907

Augustus Saint-Gaudens created this marble relief sculpture, “The Children of Prescott Hall Butler.” The choice of marble is significant, not just for its classicism, but also because of what it took to produce. In Saint-Gaudens’s time, this material would have been quarried from a mountainside, shipped, and then carved with great labor. Marble dust is well-known as a threat to sculptors’ lungs. The sensuous smoothness we associate with the stone is achieved at a cost. Saint-Gaudens was among the sculptors who embraced industrial technology. The creation of a marble relief such as this would likely have involved pointing machines, powered by steam. These allowed the artist to precisely transfer measurements from a clay model to a stone block. Considering this, the innocence of these children is thrown into sharp relief, pun intended. This artwork is a testament to how social context and labor are embedded in the very fabric of art.