powerlesspress:
The Weeping Angel was commissioned in 1900 by Jane Lathrop Stanford for her deceased brother Henry Clay Lathrop. It is a reproduction of the Angel of Grief by William Wetmore Story, 1894. Jane had it carved in Italy from a single slab of Carrere marble (per her instruction). Transporting the 7 ton statue to Palo Alto was a difficult task. First, it sailed 60 miles up the Tyrrhenian Sea to Genoa, then a steamer ship took it across the Atlantic to New Orleans. The statue then crossed country for 3 months on a railroad flat car, arriving at the Palo Alto train station just yards from it’s resting spot at Stanford. A bronze urn containing Henry’s ashes was set inside an opening at the base of the statue and sealed. 5 years later, the 1906 S.F. earthquake hit, the canopy (seen in this photo) collapsed and destroyed the marble angel. It was replaced 2 years later with a reproduction (sans canopy).
