e king and the Royal family visited the studio of Mr. Simmons to see
the great group, and so powerfully did its excellence appeal to King
Umberto that he knighted Mr. Simmons, making him Cavaliere of the Crown
of Italy. Nor was Mr. Simmons the prophet who was not without honor save
in his own country, for his _alma mater_ gave him the degree of M.A. in
1867; Colby College honored him with the Master's degree in 1885, and in
1888 Bowdoin bestowed upon this eminent Maine artist the same degree. In
1892 Mr. Simmons married the Baroness von Jeinsen, a brilliant and
beautiful woman who, though a lady of foreign title, was an American by
birth. An accomplished musician, a critical lover of art, and the most
delightful of hostesses and friends, Mrs. Simmons drew around her a
remarkable circle of charming people and made their home in the Palazzo
Tamagno a notable centre of social life. No woman in the American colony
of the Seven-hilled City was ever more beloved; and it was frequently
noted by guests at her weekly receptions that Mrs. Simmons was as
solicitous for the enjoyment of the most unknown stranger as for those
of rank and title who frequented her house. Her grace and loveliness
were fully equalled by her graciousness and that charm of personality
peculiarly her own. Her death in Rome, on Christmas of 1905, left a
vacant place, indeed, in many a home which had been gladdened by her
radiant presence. One of the most beautiful works of Mr. Simmons is a
portrait of his wife in bas-relief, representing her standing just at
the opening of parted curtains, as if she were about to step behind and
vanish. It is a very poetic conception. A bust of Mrs. Simmons, also, in
his studio, is fairly a speaking likeness of this beautiful and
distinguished woman. It is over her grave in the Protestant cemetery
that Mr. Simmons has placed one of his noblest ideal statues, "The Angel
of the Resurrection,"--a memorial monument that is one of the art
features of Rome to the visitor in the Eternal City.

[Illustration: "GRIEF AND HISTORY," DETAIL FROM NAVAL MONUMENT,
WASHINGTON
Franklin Simmons
_Page 105_]

The brilliant and impressive Naval Monument, or Monument of Peace, as it
is known in Washington, placed at the foot of Capitol Hill on
Pennsylvania Avenue, is eloquent with the power of heroic suggestion
that Mr. Simmons has imparted to it. The work breathes that exaltation
of final t