Saint-Gaudens

Secularism permeates the nation’s liberal founding documents — the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights — even as the history of Saint-Gaudens’ statue of my pious ancestor demonstrates the idealistic tenacity of religious faith.

Saint-Gaudens’ square-jawed fellow is dressed as the sartorial epitome of colonial sobriety.

Saint-Gaudens’ imposing, full-length bronze figure, soon nicknamed “The Puritan,” was an immediate sensation.

For the 250th anniversary of Springfield’s founding, Saint-Gaudens was commissioned to create a monument — not to Pynchon, but to Chapin.

At his Paris studio, Saint-Gaudens began pumping out scaled-down versions, each about 2½ feet tall and in a choice of different bronze patinas — black, green, golden brown — to meet customer demand.