The terracotta bust of Minerva in a niche on the facade is extremely unique and unusual, I am astounded that they put this on the facade of a school, there must be a story behind it long lost as to whom specified it and why because this was very atypical, normally if they were going to install such a figural bust on a building like this it would have been a portrait of someone from history or someone important or beloved from contemporary times. One would more likely expect to see a portrait of someone such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or in the case of this school; perhaps a portrait of the city mayor or governor of the state.
The majority of these old schools built from around 1895 into the late 20s or so were designed by Charles B. J. Snyder. He came up with the innovative "H" shaped floor plan to allow maximum light to the rooms as well as providing two courts that could be used for playgrounds, but his style for the facades was a collegiate gothic, so it makes me wonder if someone else was the architect of this school.
But wow, that bust of Minerva is stunning! a lot of modelling time went into the creation of that sculpture, and since I have never seen another one like it on any other school, it is possible this one was not made in a mold as was typical for making multiple copies from, but this might be the ORIGINAL sculpture since there appears to only be one on the building.
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The terracotta bust of Minerva in a niche on the facade is extremely unique and unusual, I am astounded that they put this on the facade of a school, there must be a story behind it long lost as to whom specified it and why because this was very atypical, normally if they were going to install such a figural bust on a building like this it would have been a portrait of someone from history or someone important or beloved from contemporary times. One would more likely expect to see a portrait of someone such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or in the case of this school; perhaps a portrait of the city mayor or governor of the state.
The majority of these old schools built from around 1895 into the late 20s or so were designed by Charles B. J. Snyder. He came up with the innovative "H" shaped floor plan to allow maximum light to the rooms as well as providing two courts that could be used for playgrounds, but his style for the facades was a collegiate gothic, so it makes me wonder if someone else was the architect of this school.
But wow, that bust of Minerva is stunning! a lot of modelling time went into the creation of that sculpture, and since I have never seen another one like it on any other school, it is possible this one was not made in a mold as was typical for making multiple copies from, but this might be the ORIGINAL sculpture since there appears to only be one on the building.
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