MORETTI'S WARNING: THE MYTH DEMYSTIFIED

FROM THE EDITOR: A myth repeated often enough has a tendency to take on the mantle of credibility; one such "credible myth "found its way into our winter issue, with surprising results. The article, "A Roman God in Alabama: Birmingham 's Vulcan, " repeated the story that sculptor Giuseppe Moretti had warned that his statue of Vulcan- "a god dedicated to moneymaking"-should never be separated from his more spiritual'marble creation, the Head of Christ. An unexpected tempest developed in Birmingham in response, as one group demanded that the statues be reunited and another protested the idea. But with a spotlight finally turned upon the myth of "Moretti's warning, " it proved groundless. In hopes of getting the story straight for posterity, I asked the Alabama Department of Archives and History, current custodian of the Head of Christ, to unravel myth from truth for our readers. Here is the response.

FROM AN EARLY AGE Giuseppe Moretti had a passion not only for sculpting marble, but for discovering new sources of statuary-quality marble and, in his own words, "bringing it to light." While in Birmingham overseeing the casting of Vulcan, the Italian artist learned of the marble deposits near Sylacauga-stone he would eventually equate with the famed marble of Carrara. During an early visit to Sylacauga, Moretti located a piece of white marble that he described as "a block of perfect stone." he took it back to Birmingham and sculpted from it the Head of Christ, the first work of sculpture ever done in Alabama marble.

To Giuseppe Moretti the Head of Christ represented the perfect white marble and the "perfect sacrifice," both gifts from God showing his love for the sculptor. Moretti included the Head of Christ in his exhibit of Vulcan at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. he told his assistant, Geneva Mercer, that "as the Vulcan was being sent to the St. Louis Fair to represent the mighty material forces of the industries of coal and iron and steel," he sent the "Head of Christ carved in that beautiful pure marble to represent the spiritual resources of the State."

After the exhibition the Head of Chnst was rarely far from Moretti. he told his friend, Alice Jeffress Boswell, "I have a peculiar affection for it. Where I go, my Christ goes also.... I feel that the final resting place of this first sculpture from Alabama marble should be in that state." In the Birmingham News, Boswell also reported her belief that Moretti ultimately intended to contribute the bust to the city of Birmingham "to be enshrined in the Public Library or some other suitable place." But Moretti's wife, Dorothea, and Geneva Mercer had a different understanding of the sculptor's ultimate intention.

Several years after Moretti's death, Mercer wrote, "Mr. Moretti left no arbitrary wishes at all in regard to this work except that he left it the property of his wife. he had also expressed a wish that sometime it should remain in Alabama. Montgomery had been mentioned in this regard to both Mrs. Moretti and myself."

When Vulcan was being removed from the State Fair Grounds to Red Mountain, Mrs. Moretti offered to lend the Head of Chnst im the dedication ceremony. But some community leaders wanted it to remain permanently in Birmingham. A Birmingham Post article on April 17, 1939, described a plan conceived by "art-conscious members of the Italian-American Progressive Association." They would place a temporary plaque honoring Moretti at the top of the stairs inside Vulcan. When a visiting attaché from the Italian consulate in New Orleans saw it, they believed that he would be "likely to write to Mrs. Moretti in Italy and tell her about it, which is likely to make her so appreciative that she'll let the club and Birmingham have the coveted piece of statuary-called Head of Christ"

A friend forwarded this and several other newspaper clippings of a similar vein to Mrs. Moretti in Italy. She responded, expressing distress about the plans to permanently place the Head of Christ in the exhibit hall at Vulcan. She asked that the error be corrected, reminding them that her letter about the display of the Head of Christ at the Vulcan site left "no doubt whatsoever as to the temporary character of the Exhibition." The temporary loan for the Vulcan dedication ceremony never took place, however, because Birmingham leaders could not assure the safety of the Head of Christ amidst the expected crowds.

Mrs. Moretti sent word to Birmingham of her decision to give the Head of Christ to the state of Alabama to be placed in the State Memorial Building (Alabama Department of Archives and History). She later explained:

It is precisely as the Pioneer of the Alabama Marble that Moretti is commemorated in the Archives and History of the state. It is precisely in order that future generations will know-when they see those magnificent columns-that the artist Moretti was the first moving force that in his phrase "Brought that beautiful marble to the light. "

It seemed fitting to her that the Archives and History building, with its extravagant use of the Alabama marble the sculptor "brought to light," should be the permanent home for Moretti's prized Head of Christ. The treasure was shipped to the state archives on October 28, 1940, and was on exhibit by January 10, 1941. It has been almost continually displayed in the department since.