Homer (Ezekiel)

Homer
Artist	Moses Jacob Ezekiel
Year	1907
Type	Bronze
Dimensions	170 cm × 90 cm × 140 cm (67 in × 35 in × 55 in)
Location	Charlottesville
Coordinates	38°2′00″N 78°30′27″W / 38.03333°N 78.50750°W / 38.03333; -78.50750
Owner	University of Virginia

Blind Homer With His Student Guide is a bronze sculpture by Moses Jacob Ezekiel in the likeness of the blind poet Homer, author of the Iliad, accompanied by a student guide. Ezekiel completed the statue in 1907 on a commission from John Woodruff Simpson as a gift for Amherst College, his alma mater.^[1] For reasons unknown the gift was refused, and Thomas Nelson Page, a Virginia alumnus who was active in the UVA Alumni Association, stepped in to secure the gift of the statue to UVa instead.^[2] Ezekiel completed the work in his Rome studio and donated a five foot tall black marble pedestal upon which the statue was originally installed.^[3][4]

The statue is installed on The Lawn, in the grass to the north of Old Cabell Hall.

Damage and restoration[]

In January of 2019, the statue was damaged and the lyre held by the "student guide" was apparently stolen.^[5] Subsequent investigation found the lyre on the ground next to the statue. , the University associate Vice President for communications, said that "the original mounts were severely corroded … It would not have taken much force to remove the lyre.". The statue was restored in October 2019, returning the lyre to its original position, replacing its missing strings, reinforcing a hand that had become "wobbly," and adding a layer of protective wax to the statue.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• Addresses on the receiving of the statue, June 10, 1907
• Homer in Smithsonian Institution Art Inventories Catalog

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