MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Gov. James Douglas wants a lamp that is a replica of a famous 19th century nude statue removed from his Statehouse office before the legislative session starts next month.

The lamp, installed on his desk recently as part of a Statehouse restoration project, is a replica of a statue of a chained slave crafted by a Vermont artist in 1843 that became an icon of the abolitionist movement before the Civil War.

“The governor does not object to the art,” said Douglas spokesman Jason Gibbs. “It may, frankly, be awkward to explain why there is a nude Greek slave on the governor’s desk to a third-grader.”

Gibbs said, however, the principal reason for removing the lamp is its own safety.

He said that during the legislative session, which begins Jan. 5, the governor’s ceremonial office is often crowded and the lamp, which cost $2,500 and is plugged into an overhead chandelier – replicating the gas line that used to connect the gaslight chandelier to a desk light – could be knocked over and damaged.

“We thought that it would be risky for it to remain when so many people use that office during the legislative session and so many student groups come and often sit at or around the governor’s desk,” Gibbs said.

The ornate office is used heavily while the Legislature is in session, but governors work most of the time out of a suite of modern offices in an adjacent building.

During a recent staff meeting in the office a member of the governor’s senior staff covered the lamp with a napkin, mimicking the U.S. Justice Department where three years ago officials covered with blue drapes a nude statue in the main lobby of the department’s headquarters in Washington. “It was all in good fun,” Gibbs said.

Douglas, a Republican, who was just re-elected to a second two-year term, is no stranger to the Statehouse and its art. He has worked in and around the building for more than 30 years, as a member of the House, an aide to a governor, and as secretary of state and state treasurer.

The first of six examples of “The Greek Slave” was sculpted by Woodstock-born artist Hiram Powers in 1843. It quickly became one of the most famous pieces of sculpture of the era and American art.

The woman depicted in the statue, her hair tied back in a bun, is looking downward, a chain attached to her wrists. In the original, her clothes are beside her and a locket and cross are visible.

“It’s a wonderful statue,” said Vivien Fryd, an art historian at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, who has written about the statue. “It was the first time the American public accepted the female nude.”

“The Greek Slave” is an image of a woman captured by the Turks during Greece’s war for independence.

“She is a pure woman who is only thinking of her family,” Fryd said. “It was OK to look at her because you really couldn’t look at her body, only her purity.”

The statue became a symbol of slavery. “It very much became a rallying point, especially for the abolitionists,” Fryd said.

“The Greek Slave” lamp was donated to the governor’s office by the nonprofit group, “The Friends of the Statehouse” as part of the ongoing restoration of the building.

Hiram Powers’ cousin, Thomas Powers, was the speaker of the Vermont House during the late 1850s when the Statehouse was being built, said Statehouse Curator David Schutz.

The chandelier in the House chamber has four versions of “The Greek Slave.”

Schutz said one of the restoration experts hired to work on the Statehouse suggested using “The Greek Slave” as the design for the table lamp in the governor’s office.

He said 19th century photos of the office showed a gas light connected to the chandelier, but that lamp was not a replica of “The Greek Slave.”

Schutz said the lamp would be removed from the office during the session, which runs from January through roughly May. “I am, of course, respecting his wishes. It is, after all, his office,” Schutz said.

“I don’t believe the governor had as much concern as some staffers concerned about school groups visiting,” he said.

He said he didn’t know if the concern was about safety or the nudity.

“There hasn’t been much explanation,” Schutz said. “I am fine about that. From our standpoint in interpreting it to the public, during the session it’s a working office. It’s the other life of the Statehouse, from June to December, when we will have this display.”

AP-ES-12-10-04 1301EST