William Page - Works

Works

In Italy, he produced his “Venus,” “Moses and Aaron on Mount Horeb,” “Infant Bacchus,” and “Flight into Egypt.” His work also includes a full-length portrait of Admiral David Farragut at the Battle of Mobile Bay (purchased by a committee in 1871, and presented to the emperor of Russia), the “Holy Family” (1837, now at the Boston Athenaeum) and “The Young Merchants” (now at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia). In 1870, Page exhibited a portrait head of Jesus Christ which attracted great attention and excited much controversy. Other paintings include: “The Last Interview” (1838), “Ruth and Naomi,” and “Cupid” (1880)

Among his many portraits, for which he was most noted, are those of Hiram Powers (painted in Florence about 1848), Henry Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips, Charles P. Daly (1848, in New York Historical Society), James Russell Lowell, Josiah Quincy III, Gov. Reuben E. Fenton (1870), Charlotte Cushman, Ulysses S. Grant (1880), Thomas Le Clear (1883), and Charles Sumner (left unfinished upon Sumner's death). In 1874 Page made a second visit to Europe, in order to study Becker's supposed death mask of William Shakespeare preserved in Germany, and on his return he executed a large bust and several portraits of Shakespeare (1874-78).

He wrote A New Geometrical Method of Measuring the Human Figure (1860), and invented and patented various improvements in boats and guns.