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Mrs. Stanford White (Bessie Springs Smith) 1884 Marble This replica, by 1888 For more than a quarter of a century, Saint-Gaudens and the celebrated architect Stanford White (1853-1906) took pleasure in teaming up on projects that ranged from an exquisitely detailed cover for Scribner's magazine to majestic decorative elements for public and private buildings. This portrait of White's bride is a particularly personal document of their illustrious collaboration. On the occasion of their marriage in 1884, Saint-Gaudens presented the Whites with this classically inspired portrait of Bessie garbed in a simple wedding gown Bessie's charming gesture of gently pushing the veil away from her face serves both as a means of displaying her features and, like the bouquet of roses she hold, as a symbol of her own unfolding to the promise of life. White enhanced the work by crating the elaborate gilded tabernacle frame.

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