Larkin Goldsmith Mead, Jr. (January 3, 1835 – October 15, 1910) was an Americansculptor who worked in aneoclassical style.

He was born atChesterfield, New Hampshire, the son of a prominent lawyer. A colossal snowman constructed by the young Mead was reported by the local press.^[1] He became a pupil of sculptorHenry Kirke Brown, (1853–1855). He worked as an illustrator forHarper's Weekly during the early part of theAmerican Civil War, and was at the front for six months with theArmy of the Potomac. In 1862–1865, he traveled toItaly, working for a time in Florence, and also spending part of the time attached to the United States consulate atVenice, whereWilliam Dean Howells, his brother-in-law, was diplomatic consul. He married in Venice.^[2] He returned to America in 1865, but subsequently returned to Italy, where he lived inFlorence until his death.^[3]

His first important work was a statue ofAgriculture, designed to top the dome of theVermont Statehouse atMontpelier, Vermont. This work proved so successful that he was soon commissioned to sculpt astatue ofEthan Allen for the Statehouse portico.

Other principal works include: the granite and bronzeLincoln Tomb, a sculptured mausoleum to PresidentAbraham Lincoln inSpringfield, Illinois;Ethan Allen (1876),National Statuary Hall, United States Capitol, Washington, DC; a heroic marble,Mississippi – The Father of Waters,Minneapolis City Hall;Triumph ofCeres, made for theWorld's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1893;^[3] and a large bust of Lincoln in the Hall of Inscriptions at the Vermont Statehouse.

His brotherWilliam Rutherford Mead (1846–1928) was a well-known architect, theMead ofMcKim, Mead, and White.^[3]

He is buried in theCimitero Evangelico degli Allori in the southern suburb ofFlorence,Galluzzo (Italy).

• Recording Angel, marble, 1855. A replica of this adorns Mead's grave in Florence, Italy.
• Agriculture (orCeres), gilded wood, atopVermont Statehouse dome, Montpelier, Vermont, 1858, replaced with a copy 1938.
• Ethan Allen, marble, by main entrance toVermont Statehouse, Montpelier, Vermont, 1858–61, replaced with a copy 1941.
• Bust of General George McClellan, unlocated, 1862.
• Echo, marble,Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, ca. 1862–63.^[4] Replicas of this are at theBoston Public Library, theCorcoran Gallery of Art, and theTelfair Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Bust of Venezia, marble,Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, 1865–66.^[5] This is believed to be a portrait of Mead's wife.
• Returned Soldier, Italian marble, Connecticut Veterans Home, Rocky Hill, Connecticut, 1865-67. A replica of this is at theChrysler Museum of Art.^[6]
• America, marble, atop Soldiers' Monument, Courthouse Park, St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 1866–68.
• Thought, marble,Bangor Public Library, Bangor, Maine, 1868.^[7]
• Columbus's Last Appeal to Queen Isabella,California State Capitol, Sacramento, California, 1868–71. Removed in 2020 as a result of the George Floyd and BLM protests.List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests.
• Bust of Abraham Lincoln, Hall of Inscriptions,Vermont Statehouse, Montpelier, Vermont, ca. 1871.^[8] A study for Mead's statue at theLincoln Tomb.
• Ethan Allen, marble,National Statuary Hall Collection,United States Capitol, Washington, DC, 1876. A replica of this is atFort Ticonderoga in Ticonderoga, New York.
• Bas-relief Portrait of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1883.^[9]
• Bas-relief of The Inauguration of George Washington as First President, bronze, ca. 1889.^[10]
• The Triumph of Ceres (pedimental sculpture), north portico of the Agricultural Building,World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, 1893 (destroyed). His brother,William Rutherford Mead, was the building's architect.
• The Return of Proserpine From the Realms of Pluto, unlocated, ca. 1893. Exhibited at theWorld's Columbian Exposition.
• Ione, marble,Bangor Public Library, Bangor, Maine, ca. 1897.^[11]
• Leland Stanford and Family, bronze,Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1899.
• Mississippi – The Father of Waters, marble,Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1903–06.
• La Contadinella (The Country Girl), unlocated.
• Sappho, unlocated.
• [Bas-relief?]Portrait of John Hay, bronze, unlocated.
• [Bas-relief?]Portrait of William Dean Howells, bronze, unlocated.
• [Bas-relief?]Portrait of Henry James, bronze, unlocated.

• United States Coat of Arms, bronze, ca. 1870.
• Statue of Abraham Lincoln, bronze, 1871–72.
• The Infantry Group, bronze, 1874–76.
• The Naval Group, bronze, 1874–77.
• The Artillery Group, bronze, 1882.
• The Cavalry Group, bronze, 1883.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mead, Larkin Goldsmith".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 945.
• rbhayes.org: Seventh Generation

Wikimedia Commons has media related toLarkin Goldsmith Mead.

• October 16, 1910, New York Times obituary
• State House Statues by Larkin Goldsmith Mead, Jr.
• National Park Service Lincoln birthplace site
• Standing Lincoln by Mead at Lincoln gravesite

• 1835 births
• 1910 deaths
• Culture of Vermont
• People from Chesterfield, New Hampshire
• Artists from New Hampshire
• People of New Hampshire in the American Civil War
• American expatriates in Italy
• Burials in Florence
• 19th-century American sculptors
• 19th-century American male artists
• American male sculptors
• 20th-century American sculptors
• 20th-century American male artists
• Hayes family

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