the george hogg grave-marker

The angel on the George Hogg monument, in Allegheny Cemetery, is one of the earliest bronze sculptures from an American foundry. This angel is a herald. The figure is determined. There is nothing mournful or sad in this figure. Rather she is a messanger with one arm pointing the way through the valley and the other seeming to reach out to a fallen.

Oxidation has produced an angel that blends into the surrounding green. Its outstretced arm, its drapery, its patina make it a dynamic vertical in a forest of living trees.

The angel is proportional. Wings, arms, head all create a monument of human dimensions. The setting sun changes the green patina to a glowing bronze. The herald is transformed, softened by the dying light.
(The thumbnail points to the large image.)