The Barre, Vermont, Granite Carvers A Slide Show/Lecture by
Professor Alfred Rosa
The best exhibit of the artistry of the Barre,
Vermont, stone carvers is on display at Hope Cemetery in Barre where many
of the carvers themselves are buried. Here you will find the full range
of creativity and craftsmanship that have made these carvers justifiably
world famous. The photographs that I have taken are mostly from Hope Cemetery
but include other locations in Barre as well and are taken with an eye
toward exhibiting both the art and the culture of the carvers. Included
in the show are slides of the Robert Burns statue, called by many the finest
example of granite carving in the world, and the memorial to the Italian
carvers, a most impressive statue designed by Giuliano Cechinelli and executed
by Alcide Fantoni, both still active designers and carvers today.
The slide show also includes the story of Mari Tomasi, the author of Like
Lesser Gods. The novel that she published in 1949 pays tribute
to the people of the granite industry, many of whom suffered great losses
because of the tuberculo-silicosis that plagued workers earlier in the
twentieth century.
The slide show/lecture runs about an hour and
a half and can be arranged for by calling or writing:
Professor Alfred Rosa
Department of English
304 Old Mill
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
802-656-4139