Portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Executed for the Grolier Club, New York, 1892 1892

This bronze portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne was crafted by Jean-Désiré Ringel d'Illzach in 1892 for the Grolier Club of New York. Here, we see not just a likeness, but a constellation of symbols. Consider the dates etched around Hawthorne’s image: 1804, his birth, juxtaposed with 1864, the year of his death. Near the 1804 date, a quaint house, a depiction of his birthplace, anchors him to his origins. On the opposite side, next to the date of his death we see a quill and a stone. A striking echo of memento mori, these symbols remind us of life's fleeting nature, of the writer's passage from existence to memory. The quill, emblem of Hawthorne's craft, becomes a modern-day scythe, a harbinger of time. Note how it has been used in different forms throughout history, as ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphs to illustrate their lives. Over time, the symbolic weight of Hawthorne’s portrait has only intensified. We feel the profound emotional weight of legacy, the bittersweet recognition of mortality intertwined with enduring artistic creation.