November1891,theheartofGildedAgeManhattan.ThousandsfilledthestreetssurroundingMadisonSquare,fingerspointing,mouthsagape.Aftercountlessstruggles,StanfordWhite--thecountry’smostcelebratedarchitectwasabouttodedicateAmerica’stallesttower,thefinalcapsetatophisMadisonSquareGarden,thecountry’sgrandestnewpalaceofpleasure.Amidafloodofelectriclightandfireworks,thegildedfiguretoppingthetowerwassuddenlyrevealed--aneighteen-footnudesculptureofDiana,theRomanVirginGoddessoftheHunt,createdbyAugustusSaint-Gaudens,thecountry’sfinestsculptorandWhite’sdearestpal.TheGrandestMadisonSquareGardentellstheremarkablestorybehindtheconstructionofthesecond,1890,MadisonSquareGardenandthecontroversialsculpturethatcrownedit.Setamidthemagnificentachievementsofnineteenth-centuryAmericanartandarchitecture,thebookdelvesintothefascinatingprivatelivesoftheera’smostprominentarchitectandsculptorandthenatureoftheirintimaterelationship.HinmanshowshowbothmenpushedtheboundariesofAmerica’sparochialaesthetic,usheringinaneraofartthatembracedEuropeanstyleswithAmericanvitality.SituatingtheGarden’sseminalplaceinthehistoryofNewYorkCity,aswellastheentirecountry,TheGrandestMadisonSquareGardenbringstolifeataleofarchitecture,art,andspectacleamidtheelegantyetscandal-riddencultureofGotham’sdecadentera.
