The Last Sentinel of Neoclassicism In the shifting landscape of nineteenth-century art, where Romanticism and burgeoning realism began to fracture the rigid structures of tradition, William Henry Rinehart stood as a resolute guardian of classical ideals. Born in the quiet enclave of Union Bridge, Maryland, in 1825, Rinehart’s journey from a farm boy to a master of marble is a testament to an innate, almost primal connection to stone. Legend suggests his talent first manifested in the quarries of his family estate, where he would surreptitiously carve portraits from raw stone while neglecting…