Stanford White (1853-1906), born in New York City, was a partner with Charles F. McKim and William R. Mead in the most important architectural firm of the nineteenth century. White met Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1875, when both men were beginning their careers, and was instrumental in getting the sculptor work with John La Farge on the decoration of Trinity Church in Boston. The architect and the sculptor sustained an intimate and exuberant friendship for thirty years. Their professional collaborations provided Saint-Gaudens with some of his most successful public monuments. The two men first joined forces in the creation of the Farragut Monument, and would work together on more than twenty projects over the years, including The Puritan and the Adams Memorial.  The Diana was commissioned by White to top the tower of his Madison Square Garden.

When Saint-Gaudens moved to New Hampshire in 1900, his  friendship with White began to fade.  The architect never did visit the sculptor in Cornish.  White was murdered in 1906, in the restaurant of his Madison Square tower, the brutal culmination of a life thoroughly lived. 

Stanford White, circa 1892,
photograph by George Cox