Chapter Eight: Bound to Succeed Summary and Analysis

Augustus Saint-Gaudens first came to Paris in 1867, the year the Exposition Universelle was being held in the city. Saint-Gaudens planned on enrolling in the École des Beaux-Arts. He wanted to be the first American to be accepted at the famous school to study sculpture. Saint-Gaudens was originally born in Ireland and emigrated with his parents to America when he was six months old. He first became interested in sculpting when he was given a cameo pin at thirteen years old. As a young teen, he became an apprentice under two cameo cutters. Unlike many young Americans who came to Paris after the Civil War, Saint-Gaudens had been touched by the war. As an apprentice during the war years, a day rarely went by that he did not see groups of soldiers in the...