Among many of the gorgeous nooks that make up Stockbridge, MA is the summer home of the guy who sculpted the Lincoln Memorial Statue down in DC.  His name was Daniel Chester French (‘Dan’ henceforth, respectfully) and to this day you can visit that summer home, aptly named Chesterwood, and see some of his early models for that enormous monolith of a statue that’s become so famous.

But that’s not what will catch your eye as you enter his studio, the beautiful naked woman, chained, and draped over a rock will most certainly be where your gaze falls.

Her name is Andromeda, and she’s the last piece of sculpted artwork that Dan was working on before he died.   Though inspired by the Greek Mythology, I heard that there was an actual supermodel (who frequented the Berkshires back in the day) who was the stand-in (draped in?) model… I couldn’t find any online corroboration for that, but it does add some fun to the story as if it needs it.

But even all that isn’t as cool as the fact that…

Dan had the entire studio built on top of train tracks that would allow him to remove part of the wall and floor, and wheel out this statue of Andromeda, into the sun, so he and future gawkers, can witness her full sunlit glory.

It’s truly something to behold.

They asked me to do a quick time-lapse video to show the process of the wall and floor being removed, and Andromeda being wheeled into the light.  While the video is fun, you have to see her in person. The entire manor is beautiful, and the grounds, where they show a lot of other artists work as well as his own, are certainly worth the trip during your next visit to the Berks.  Hey, you may even bump into a supermodel… but don’t like, bump into Andromeda, she’s pretty priceless… like literally priceless.