Charles Cary Rumsey - Table of Contents   ..................  Buffalo History Museum - Table of Contents..

"The Centaur"- Buffalo History Museum
Formerly Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum
1 Museum Court, Buffalo, NY
Buffalo History Museum - Official Home Page

By Charles Cary Rumsey


Photos taken Jan. 2015




1914 sculpture donated to the museum in 1953

















Charles Cary Rumsey (Sculptor)
 H. Rouard (Founder)
Bronze Statue on Granite Base
Height: 13' / Width: 4.5' / Depth: 11.5'

A male figure sits astride a horse with his proper right arm around the horse's neck, his torso against the proper right side of the horse's head facing towards the back of horse. His proper left arm is outstretched holding a bow.  The horse is rearing up on its hind legs. 

Horses were the favorite subject of Charles Rumsey. He was a sportsman. In Bullfinch's book, Age of Fable, a Centaur was a monster represented as a man, from the head to the loins, with the remainder of the body that of a horse.
- City of Buffalo: Public Art Collection Online (online Jan. 2015)
Although a centaur, Chiron's physical appearance often differs somewhat from other centaurs, demonstrating his status and heritage. In traditional Greek representations of Chiron his front legs are human, rather than equine, this is in contrast to the traditional representation of centaurs,which have the entire lower body of a horse. This clearly sets Chiron apart from the other centaurs, making him easily identifiable.

This difference may also have highlighted Chiron's unique lineage, being the son of Cronus. Chiron is often depicted carrying a branch with dead hares he has caught hanging from it. Chiron is also often depicted wearing clothes, demonstrating he is more civilised and unlike a normal centaur .

- Wikipedia: Chiron  (online Jan. 2015)
Other public bronze sculptures in Buffalo includes a 3/4-scale version of The Three Graces (Arden Fountain, 1911) in Forest Lawn Cemetery. Centaur (1914), which stands 13 feet high outside the Buffalo History Museum, debunks Greco-Roman mythology by representing the half-human/half-horse creature as a rider clutching his steed so closely that they appear united. [Look for the marble frieze of Rumsey creating the Centaur on the third metope left of the entrance.] A small version of Pizarro (circa 1914) sits in front of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery across the street. After Rumsey’s death, two mammoth bronze casts were presented to Trujillo, Spain, where Pizarro was born, and Lima, Peru, in front of the Governor’s Palace and near Pizarro’s grave.
- Notes for  a 2016-17 Rumsey exhibit at the Burchfield Penney Art Center (online September 2018)

 Photos and their arrangement © 2015 Chuck LaChiusa
.| ...Home Page ...| ..Buffalo Architecture Index...| ..Buffalo History Index... .|....E-Mail ...| ..

web site consulting by ingenious, inc.