Boston Irish Sculptor Martin Milmore: Art is Long, Life is Short

The sudden death of Irish-born sculptor Martin Milmore at his home in Roxbury on July 21, 1883, at age 38, marked a premature ending to his brief but shining life as one of Boston’s most accomplished and ingenious sculptors.

At his funeral mass at Holy Cross Cathedral in the South End, a banner splayed across an elaborate floral display used Hippocrates’ ancient aphorism, ‘Ars Longa, Vita Brevis,’ which translates to ‘Art is Long, Life is Short.’

The inscription has proven to be true.  Today, Milmore’s work endures in dozens of village greens and town halls, parks and cemeteries, and museums and libraries across New England and beyond. Some are prominent in town commons and on main streets, while others are tucked away off the beaten track, where they stand silently in a twilight to the past. 

For residents, visitors and art lovers seeking to view any of Milmore’s illustrious oeuvre, here is a quick snapshot: 

. The Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common is Milmore’s crowning work of art and considered a masterpiece of Civil War statuary. Unveiled in 1877, the monument echoes what  Senator Charles Sumner once described as an ideal theme for the Colonel Robert G. Shaw Memorial, “elements of youth, beauty, self-sacrifice, death, and a great cause, all marking an epoch of history.” 

. The America Monument in Charlestown (1871) and Fitchburg (1874) features the female goddess of Liberty representing America, who places laurels upon the heads of a soldier and sailor.  

. Ceres, Pomona and Flora, three Roman goddesses in granite originally unveiled in 1866 to adorn the Mass Horticultural Society building on Tremont Street, are on display at the Society’s Elm Bank in Wellesley. 

. Busts of leading citizens such as Presidents Lincoln and Vice President Wilson, Pope Pius IX , writers Longfellow and Emerson, Senator Sumner and Governor Andrew, botanist Jacob Bigelow and publisher George Ticknor are found at museums, colleges and libraries.   

. The American Sphinx Monument at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, unveiled in 1872, features an Egyptian god with “a face belonging to the noblest type of American womanhood.”   

. Revolutionary War memorials include Colonel John Glover (1875) on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston’s Back Bay and Samuel Adams (1875) at Cary Hall in Lexington. 

. Milmore’s Civil War Standing Soldier resting his rifle at his side while reflecting on his dead companions, are ubiquitous in Fitchburg, Framingham Roxbury and Woburn, MA; Claremont,  Keane and Peterborough, NH; and dozens of other New England towns. 

Visit these Milmore statues along Boston’s Irish Heritage Trail, which covers 300+ years of Irish-American history.

Research, Text + Photos, Michael Quinlin