Margaret Cassidy Manship

(1921 - 2012)

Margaret Cassidy won an international sculpture contest that offered her a three-year fellowship at the Villa Schifanoia in Fiesole, Italy. While there she began an association with master sculptor Antonio Berti, with whom she studied and assisted for several years while working on a sculpture for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and other major monuments in Italy. Primarily a sculptor, Margaret also developed new techniques for working with stained glass. She was a devout Catholic, and an avid archivist as well. Married to the love of her life, John Paul Manship in 1963, Margaret worked tirelessly to keep the Manship family artistic legacy alive, and was the last resident of Starfield, after John’s death in 2000.

Margaret Cassidy modeling a portrait in Florence, about 1955

Margaret Cassidy Manship modeled the sculpture of Cardinal Newman destined for Amherst College.

The St. Louise de Marillac sculpture by Antonio Berti (upper right) with his assistants including Margaret Cassidy, about 1954.

Margaret Cassidy Manship’s work at Flatrocks Gallery in August 2017.