Existing comment:
From http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=351800
This statue stands at the front of the Gallaudet University Campus. It portrays Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet teaching Alice Cogswell the manual letter "A". A picture may be seen to the right. This statue represents the moment Gallaudet began Alice Cogswell's education, beginning the chain of events that led to the founding of American's first permanent school for the deaf three years later, and to the establishment half a century later of what is now Gallaudet University.
There are no actual errors on this statue, despite what some people claim.
The chair on which Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet sits has three curved legs and one rear straight leg. It also has only one arm, on his left side. Some people see these as obvious mistakes, but they aren't. The chair is modeled after a real type of chair that was common in Gallaudet's time, known as a "roundabout" or "corner" chair. As the "corner" name implies, it was designed to stand in the corner of a room. The straight leg went into the corner, allowing the chair to nestle closer to the walls and leaving the other three ornamental curved legs exposed to the room. The single arm was also characteristic of those unusual chairs, allowing a person to sit in the chair from either of two directions. In this case, the sculptor has taken advantage of the "missing" arm to allow the little girl Alice to lean against Gallaudet's side. |