Spartacus by Vinnie Ream
The hero of this blog is the freedom-loving Spartacus and we have found a public domain photograph of Spartacus by sculptor Vinnie Ream (1847-1914) at the Library of Congress Multiple Prints and Photographs Collections:
Spartacus is a sculpture done by Vinnie Ream (Hoxie) [Lavinia Ellen Ream] in HER student days. She became famous as the sculptor of the Abraham Lincoln statue in the U. S. Capitol Building:
"Vinnie Ream was the first woman and the youngest artist to ever receive a commission from the United States Government for a statue. She was an '"Omnibus" child prodigy' with remarkable talent." The story is told movingly in A LABOR OF LOVE: The Life and Art of Vinnie Ream, by Glenn Sherwood.
Toward the end of her life, she also did a famous sculpture of the Native American Sequoia (Cherokee Chief Sequoyah). Vinnie Ream is buried in Arlington National Cemetary. Vinita, the second oldest town in Oklahoma, originally named Downingville, was later named Vinita in her honor.
For more about this remarkable woman see:
Smithsonian Magazine
The Vinnie Ream home page
Arlington Cemetary
and also the links found here.