Larkin Goldsmith Mead, Jr. (January 3, 1835 – October 15, 1910) was an American
sculptor who worked in a
neoclassical style.
Career
He was born at
Chesterfield, New Hampshire, the son of a prominent lawyer. A colossal snowman constructed by the young Mead was reported by the local press.[1] He became a pupil of sculptor
Henry Kirke Brown, (1853–1855). He worked as an illustrator for Harper's Weekly during the early part of the
American Civil War, and was at the front for six months with the
Army of the Potomac. In 1862–1865, he traveled to
Italy, working for a time in Florence, and also spending part of the time attached to the United States consulate at
Venice, where
William Dean Howells, his brother-in-law, was diplomatic consul. He married in Venice.[2] He returned to America in 1865, but subsequently returned to Italy, where he lived in
Florence until his death.
His first important work was a statue of Agriculture, designed to top the dome of the
Vermont Statehouse at
Montpelier, Vermont. This work proved so successful that he was soon commissioned to sculpt a
statue of
Ethan Allen for the Statehouse portico.
Bas-relief Portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1883.[8]
Bas-relief of The Inauguration of George Washington as First President, bronze, ca. 1889.[9]
The Triumph of Ceres (pedimental sculpture), north portico of the Agricultural Building,
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1893 (destroyed). His brother,
William Rutherford Mead, was the building's architect.
The Return of Proserpine From the Realms of Pluto, unlocated, ca. 1893. Exhibited at the
World's Columbian Exposition.