Because bronze sculptures are pretty well immortal, just remembering them as witnesses to history can be stirring, even heart-wrenching. I was reminded of this when I was taking pictures of the statue of King Kamehameha in Honolulu.
The piece in itself has a pretty fascinating history. It was created by a Boston artist, Thomas Gould, cast in Paris and shipped to the islands in 1880. Gould had no photographs, of course, since the King had died in 1819, so he worked from sketches and had it cast in dark bronze to match what appeared to be the body tones, and used gilt robes for his ceremonial costume.
On the way, the first statue was lost at sea and a duplicate, the one that now stands where it is today, was cast and sent. In the meantime, the first was found and shipped to the King's birthplace on the island of Hawaii. A final one was cast from a mold made from the Honolulu piece in 1969 and installed as one of two from Hawaii in the National Statuary Hall in DC.
But the most poignant fact of the statue to me is that it stands across the street from Iolani Palace, the scene of the overthrow of the monarchy by the US, spurred by corporation interests. It was in a second storey room facing the statue that Queen Liliukalani, the last reigning queen of the island nation, was imprisoned for several months. If the windows of her room hadn't been frosted, she could have looked out at her ancestor every day.
12:37:37 PM 
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