Matt Batta 2

Matt Batta - Eagle

           This is a golden sculpture of an Eagle made by American artist Samuel McIntire. This Eagle was originally made for the cupola of a large house located at 70 Washington Street in Salem, Massachusetts. This sculpture was created with White Pine and Gilding. At the time, the wealthy merchant Elias Hasket Derby had the house remodeled in 1786, which was most likely when he commissioned this symbol of the new republic from McIntire, who was Salem’s preeminent architect and carver. One thing that interested me about this piece of art was how I noticed the artists name in a few other areas of the museum, so I wanted to see what was the hype with the guy, and I also wanted to research some of his other artwork or sculptures that he may have made that was also in the Museum of Fine Arts. After further researching the artist who made this sculpture, I was able to realize that Samuel McIntire died about 30 years after the sculpture was made and also that he was about 30 years old when he made it. I also found it interesting that they were going to put it in Salem, Massachusetts because thats only about an hour away from where I live.