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Irish Jesuit Province
John Hogan: Greatest of Irish SculptorsAuthor(s): Maura PruntySource: The Irish Monthly, Vol. 78, No. 919 (Jan., 1950), pp. 41-43Published by: Irish Jesuit ProvinceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20516108 .
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JOHN HOGAN?GREATEST OF IRISH SCULPTORS
By MAURA PRUNTY
THE City of Cork is very proud of the fact that it cradled almost from infancy John Hogan, the world-famous Irish
sculptor. Hogan was born in Waterford in 1800, but his
parents migrated to Cork a few months after his birth. His father was in the building trade and it was while employed on a contract at Dunmanway that he met his future wife, Frances Cox, grand
daughter of Sir Richard Cox?one-time Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Her people did not approve of the marriage and she therefore was
deprived of a very handsome fortune; however, her married Ufe was
a very happy one. John, the eldest child and future sculptor, was
first apprenticed in a lawyer's office, but found this very irksome and
left. He was then employed by Thomas Deane, a, well-known
architect. He was only a short time in his employment when Deane,
recognizing his talent, encouraged him to apply himself to sculpture. This he did and began by carving in wood. One of his first carvings was the head of an apostle and a copy of Michael Angelo's Mask of
Moses and a very beautiful copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Last
Supper, now over the-high altar in the North Chapel in Cork. It
was in or about the year 1823 that Paulet Carey, a famous engraver of that period, happened to be in the Art Gallery in Cork and came
across a torso. So impressed was he by it that he immediately sought an introduction to Hogan, and recognizing what a future lay in store
for him, put him in touch with Lord de Tabley and the "Dublin
Society of Art ". They were instrumental in paying for his tuition
in Rome, where he attended the great art schools and studied in the
Vatican Galleries; but he was not able to afford a studio and the
purchase of marble was so expensive he found it a great struggle to
carry on. Again his benefactors came to his rescue, enabling him to
take a studio, and here most of his famous works were executed.
One of his first productions was his Italian Shepherd Boy, but his
most generally recognized masterpiece is his Dead Christ. Some
prefer his Drunken Faun, which was proclaimed by a very eminent
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IRISH MONTHLY
Danish sculptor as a "
miracle of art "
and would have been suffi
cient to immortalize his name. It tfas in recognition of the originality and genius of this particular work that the Virtuosi del Pantheon
elected him a member, an honour never before conferred on any Irish or British artist. Hogan, however, considered his Dead Christ
his greatest achievement, and so highly did he treasure it that he
accompanied it to Ireland, and many eminent artists came to admire
this sacred production of his genius, which has been proclaimed as
one of the finest works ever known in sculpture. The Carmelite Fathers in Clarendon Street are the possessors of
this sacred figure. I am sure those who have viewed Michael Angelo's majestic Moses
or Raphael's famous Transfiguration would say that Hogan could
hold a similar reputation with his Dead Christ.
Hogan's great talent was recognized by all the famous artists in
Rome, so much so that one of the greatest Italian sculptors said of
him, " When I am gone, Hogan is the best sculptor Rome possesses."
There is rather an interesting item concerning Hogan which many
may not know. This is in connection with Amelia Curran, daughter of John Philpot Curran, one-time Master of the Rolls. Amelia died
in Rome, and over her tomb in the Church of St. Isidore there is a
beautiful monument in white marble designed and executed by Hogan at the request of Lord Cloncurry, a family friend of the Currans, as
a tribute to Amelia's musical, literary and artistic talents. Hogan has portrayed on the monument a harp, an open book, and a palette.
And now to come to our own city where one would find it hard
to enumerate all the beautiful works of sculpture and all by the chisel
of Hogan. Many of our public buildings and churches have in their
possession some of his art. For instance, he modelled the Pieta in
Francis Street Church, which is done in plaster. Then in the City Hall we have two very fine specimens, that of Thomas Drummond, one-time Under-Secretary of Ireland, and Daniel O'Connell. For
this particular statue of O'Connell, Hogan left Rome and went up the mountains in Saravezza, the far side of the Tiber, in search of a
special white marble only to be had in this particular region. In
Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, there are two little angels kneeling either side of the high altar. One is struck by their expression, show
ing great tenderness and simplicity of mind on the part of Hogan and
most symbolic of what they represent?adoration and praise. Tradi
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JOHN HOGAN?GREATEST OF IRISH SCULPTORS
tion has it that Hogan's daughter, who afterwards became a nun in
Rathfarnham, when a small child posed for the angels. These are
but a few of the many works executed by Hogan and all portraying his fine artistic and cultured mind.
About the year 1849, Hogan returned to Ireland. It was a very bad time as the country had not recovered from the effects of the
dreadful famine. As a result he found it hard to get work. However,
things improved and he received orders for statues of Father Mathew, Thomas Davis, and also many busts.
The year 1868 saw Hogan a sick man and his last work, The
Transfiguration, was uncompleted but was later finished by his son, John V. Hogan, and is now in the Royal Hibernian Academy. Had
Hogan spent more time in his own country and given us more of his works of art, we might have had what they have in the Vatican art
galleries, where there is a room given over to the works of Raphael and known as the Raphael Room, So we might have had likewise in our Art Gallery a room known as the Hogan Room.
Practically all Hogan's works were exhibited in the R.H.A., and it is sad to think that this great sculptor, who by his talent has raised so many beautiful memorials to his fellow men, now rests under a
plain slab in Glasnevin Cemetery. May his monument be not of marble or bronze, but rather that of veneration and gratitude for all he has bestowed not only on his own country but also on those of
foreign lands.
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