| Statue of Charles Sumner | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2017 | |
 | |
| Artist | Thomas Ball |
| Completion date | 1878 |
| Subject | Charles Sumner |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| 42°21′8.7″N71°4′11.4″W / 42.352417°N 71.069833°W | |
The statue of Charles Sumner in Boston's Public Garden is a bronze statue by Thomas Ball, commissioned by the Boston Art Committee to honor Sumner after his death in 1874. The statue was dedicated in 1878. [1]
In 1875, the Boston Art Committee held a national design competition to design a statue of Sumner. The winning design of a seated Sumner, by Anne Whitney, was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia the following year. The Committee, on discovering that Whitney was female, decided not to proceed with the casting and installation of her work.
Ball was living in Florence at the time, and came to the United States to attend the Centennial Exposition. He had previously worked in Boston and produced many statues of public figures in the Boston area, including Governor Andrew, [2] and received a commission to design this statue. [3] Ball returned to Florence to develop his design. [lower-alpha 1] The statue depicts a standing Sumner holding a roll of papers to his chest, and gesturing to one side. It was cast in Paris and shipped back to Boston in 1878. [5]
The statue was dedicated on December 23, 1878 in the Boston Public Garden. It was surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in 1993. [6]
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A bronze statue of Charles Sumner, by sculptor Anne Whitney, is installed in General MacArthur Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The plaster model for the statue is on display indoors at the Watertown public library. The sculpture of Sumner, a popular local statesman, was commissioned by the Boston Art Committee shortly after his death in 1874.
A statue of Thomas Cass by Richard E. Brooks, called Colonel Thomas Cass, is installed in Boston's Public Garden, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
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An equestrian statue of George Washington by Thomas Ball is installed in Boston's Public Garden, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
A statue of John F. Kennedy by Isabel McIlvain is installed outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
A statue of Josiah Quincy III by Thomas Ball is installed outside Boston's Old City Hall, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The sculpture belongs to the City of Boston.
Media related to Charles Sumner statue in Boston Public Garden at Wikimedia Commons
