托福听力短文 II-11-3
(WB) And as we enter this next gallery, please turn your attention to the statue on your right. It's a bust of the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. It was done by American sculptor Hiram Powers. Mr. Powers is particularly significant to our sculpture collection here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His statue entitled California was the first work by an American artist to become part of the collection at the Met. But back to this piece. When Powers was modeling this bust, he asked the President, who was 68 years old at the time, if he wanted to be made to appear younger than that. President Jackson replied that he didn't; so as you can see, he's shown here with wrinkles and lines of aging etched on his face. Consequently, this bust is considered to be one of the most realistic portrayals of Andrew Jackson. Powers traveled from his studio in Italy to the White House to do the original study for the bust. He did the study in clay, cut he sculpted the final statue from fine Italian marble, as you can see. I should add that the usual practice at the time was to get local artisans to do the actual carving of the marble. Note that the President is draped in a Roman toga. This is because in the nineteenth century that was the customary attire for representations of heads of state and other important figures. Powers kept the bust in his studio until after President Jackson's death, when it was sold to the Democratic Club in New York City. It was lent to us here at the Met in 1874 and twenty years later became part of our permanent collection. Now, ... if you'll step this way, we'll move on to the next piece.
