Homer (Ezekiel)

Homer

Artist	Moses Jacob Ezekiel
Year	1907
Type	Bronze
Dimensions	170 cm × 90 cm × 140 cm (67 in × 35 in × 55 in)
Location	Charlottesville
	38°2′00″N 78°30′27″W / 38.03333°N 78.50750°W
Owner	University of Virginia

Blind Homer With His Student Guide is a bronze sculpture by Moses Jacob Ezekiel in the likeness of the blind poet Homer, author of the Iliad, accompanied by a student guide. Ezekiel completed the statue in 1907 on a commission from John Woodruff Simpson as a gift for Amherst College, his alma mater.^[1] For reasons unknown the gift was refused, and Thomas Nelson Page, a Virginia alumnus who was active in the UVA Alumni Association, stepped in to secure the gift of the statue to UVa instead.^[2] Ezekiel completed the work in his Rome studio and donated a five foot tall black marble pedestal upon which the statue was originally installed.^{[3] [4]}

The statue is installed on The Lawn, in the grass to the north of Old Cabell Hall.

References

1. Bruce, Philip Alexander (1921). History of the University of Virginia V. p. 320.
2. Roberts, Josie (2000-04-07). "Homer's Odyssey brings him to Lawn". The Cavalier Daily. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
3. "Bronzes of Homer and Jefferson". College Topics. 1907-03-23. p. 1. Retrieved 2014-01-24.
4. "The Ezekiel Bronzes". The Alumni Bulletin 7 (2): 188–192. April 1907.

External links

• Addresses on the receiving of the statue, June 10, 1907
• Homer in Smithsonian Institution Art Inventories Catalog