DescriptionAfter three years of academic training in Paris, Saint-Gaudens relocated to Rome in 1870 and soon began modeling Hiawatha in his studio at the Palazzo Barberini. The inspiration for his full-size seated nude was drawn from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha" (1855), a popular wellspring of themes for American artists during the late nineteenth century. Saint-Gaudens represented the central protagonist, a Chippewa chief, as a contemplative figure seated on a rock, leaning against a tree trunk with his quiver of arrows and bow nearby, and "Pondering, musing in the forest / On the welfare of his people," as the excerpt from Longfellow's poem inscribed on the marble base declares. Saint-Gaudens vowed he would "astonish the world" with his ambitious early piece, and, indeed, he sold the unique marble to Edwin D. Morgan, a former governor of New York.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and MarkingsSignature: [on base]: AUG ST GAUDENS / ROMA FECIT 1872
Inscriptions: [on front of pedestal base]: HIAWATHA / PONDERING MUSING IN THE FOREST / ON THE WELFARE OF HIS PEOPLE / ON THE SMOOTH BARK OF A BIRCH TREE / PAINTED MANY SHAPES AND FIGURES / LONGFELLOW