I’m not superstitious, but this one struck me as a little odd.
The Hill reported today on an interesting history behind a life-size bust created to honor Dan Quayle in the Capitol in Washington.
Before I get into it, I know what you’re thinking. Why is Quayle getting honored at all? It turns out that the Senate began venerating all vice presidents with a bust collection starting in 1885.
Anyway, that’s not the interesting part. As The Hill explained, “like his star-crossed tenure as the nation’s 44th vice president, the effort to produce a head and shoulders sculpture of the former Indiana Republican senator and House member has not followed a smooth path.”
This is an understatement.
In 1999, a renowned sculptor named Frederick Hart was chosen to create the Quayle bust. After two sittings with the former vice president, Hart died suddenly.
So the project then went to another sculptor, Vincent Palumbo, the master stone carver at the National Cathedral. Shortly after winning the Quayle assignment, Palumbo died too.
The bust then went to Daniel Sinclair, a stone carver in Long Island. Sinclair did not have to actually bring Quayle to his studio for a sitting; he instead worked from photographs.
Now I don’t believe in curses or signs, but I have to wonder if Sinclair had any reservations about the project knowing that the first two sculptors died unexpectedly.
Poor Quayle. Nothing ever goes easily for the guy.