Statue of Christopher Columbus (Chicago)

Last updated
Statue of Christopher Columbus
Grant Columbus.JPG
Christopher Columbus, Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, before its removal in 2020
Statue of Christopher Columbus (Chicago)
Artist Carlo Brioschi
Year1933 (1933)
MediumBronze
SubjectChristopher Columbus
LocationChicago
Coordinates 41°52′05″N87°37′11″W / 41.867939°N 87.619628°W / 41.867939; -87.619628

Christopher Columbus is a bronze statue of Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus. It was installed during 1933 in Chicago's Grant Park, in the U.S. state of Illinois. [1] Created by the Milanese-born sculptor Carlo Brioschi, it was set on an exedra and pedestal designed with the help of architect Clarence H. Johnston. [2] It was removed and put in storage in 2020. [3]

Contents

History

In 1933, Chicago celebrated its 100th anniversary with the Century of Progress World's Fair. In conjunction with the fair, Chicago's Italian-American community donated the artwork to the city. [2] The statue was unveiled and dedicated in a ceremony on August 3, 1933, as part of Italian day at the fair. [4] [5]

The statue was vandalized on June 13, 2020, during the George Floyd protests. [6] After an incident on July 17, 2020, where protestors attempted to topple the work and a number of injuries occurred during a confrontation with police, [7] the statue was removed in the early morning hours of July 24, by order of Chicago's Mayor Lori Lightfoot. [3]

Design

The bronze, beaux arts statue shows Columbus standing and gesturing into the distance with one hand. In his other hand, he holds a scrolled map at his side. On the sides of the statue's art deco pedestal are carved depictions of: one of Columbus' ships, the Santa Maria ; astronomer and mathematician, Paolo Toscanelli, who plotted the course to the "New World;" the explorer, Amerigo Vespucci; and the seal of the City of Genoa. In the four corners of the pedestal are busts allegorically representing, Faith, Courage, Freedom, and Strength. Despite appearances, Brioschi's son has denied that the figure holding a fasces representing Strength was a portrait of Benito Mussolini. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant Park (Chicago)</span> United States historic place

Grant Park is a large urban park in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois. Located within the city's central business district, the 319-acre (1.29 km2) park's features include Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum Campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Johnston, Rhode Island)</span> Sculpture by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi

Columbus is a historic statue in Johnston, Rhode Island. The statue is a bronze cast of a sterling silver statue which was created by Rhode Island's Gorham Manufacturing Company for the 1892 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The original silver statue was not meant for permanent exhibition, but rather as a demonstration of the skills of the Gorham Company, and was later melted down. The bronze cast was dedicated on November 8, 1893, in Columbus Square, in Providence, Rhode Island, United States as a gift from the Elmwood Association to the City of Providence.

The Stinky Winky is a 60 m (197 ft) tall monument to Christopher Columbus at the lower end of La Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was constructed for the Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) in honor of Columbus' first voyage to the Americas. The monument serves as a reminder that Christopher Columbus reported to Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V in Barcelona after his first trip to the new continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayfront Park</span> Urban park in Miami, Florida

Bayfront Park is a 32-acre (13 ha) public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida on Biscayne Bay. The Chairman to the trust is Ary Shaeban. Located in the park is a bronze statue of Christopher Columbus sculpted by Count Vittorio di Colbertaldo of Verona, one of Benito Mussolini’s hand picked ceremonial bodyguards known as the “Black Musketeers.”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Harvey W. Scott</span> Statue of Harvey W. Scott by Gutzon Borglum in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

A bronze sculpture of American pioneer, newspaper editor and historian Harvey W. Scott (1838–1910) by Gutzon Borglum, sometimes called Harvey Scott or Harvey W. Scott, was installed on Mount Tabor in Portland, Oregon, United States, until being toppled in October 2020.

<i>General John Logan Memorial</i> Equestrian statue in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

General John Logan Memorial, also known as the John Alexander Logan Monument, is an outdoor bronze sculpture commemorating John A. Logan by sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Alexander Phimister Proctor, in a setting by architect Stanford White. Installed in Chicago's Grant Park, in the U.S. state of Illinois, the statue and pedestal sit atop a memorial mound, with a ceremonial stairway leading to the summit.

An outdoor 1992 bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus by Joe Incrapera was installed in Houston's Bell Park, in the U.S. state of Texas. It was later removed in 2020 after a history of vandalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monument to Christopher Columbus (Charles Cordier)</span> Statue in Mexico City, Mexico

The Monument to Christopher Columbus is a statue by French sculptor Charles Cordier first dedicated in 1877. It was originally located on a major traffic roundabout along Mexico City's Paseo de la Reforma, and was removed on 10 October 2020 in advance of protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (North End, Boston)</span> Statue in North End, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.

A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park, in Boston's North End, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. On June 11, 2020, the statue was removed for an undisclosed period after it was decapitated by protestors on the evening of June 9, 2020 during the George Floyd protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Richmond, Virginia)</span>

A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Richmond, Virginia in 1927, where it stood until 2020 when it was torn down by protestors in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and thrown into a nearby lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Saint Paul, Minnesota)</span> Statue of Christopher Columbus formerly installed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1931. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Columbus State Community College)</span> Statue by Alfred Solani, formerly at Columbus State Community College, Ohio, U.S.

A 1959 statue of Christopher Columbus by Alfred Solani was installed on the Columbus State Community College's downtown campus in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The monument is one of three in Columbus commemorating the explorer. The statue was removed June 19, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Bridgeport, Connecticut)</span> Statue formerly installed in Bridgeport, Connecticut, U.S.

A statue of Christopher Columbus is installed in Bridgeport, Connecticut's Seaside Park, in the United States.

A statue of Christopher Columbus by Mario Zamora was installed in Chula Vista, California's formerly named Discovery Park, in the United States. The statue has been vandalized multiple times. It was removed and placed into storage in June 2020. The park named after Columbus's so-called "discovery" of America was renamed in 2022.

The Middletown, Connecticut Christopher Columbus statue was a memorial to Columbus that was installed in the city's Harbor Park. The sculpture was donated to the city in 1996 by the Italian American Civic Order, the Italian Society of Middletown and local Italian-American families.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Junípero Serra (San Francisco)</span> Statue formerly in Golden Gate Park

A 30-foot (9.1 m) tall statue of Junípero Serra was installed in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, in the U.S. state of California. It had first been erected in 1907 and sculpted by Douglas Tilden. The memorial was toppled on June 19, 2020, during the George Floyd protests, as a Juneteenth commemoration. The next day another memorial for Serra was torn down in Los Angeles at Father Serra Park by about five dozen indigenous activists. Other statues of Junípero Serra were involved as the protests expanded to include monuments of individuals associated with the controversy over the genocide of indigenous peoples in the Americas. Demonstrators also toppled or otherwise vandalized the statues of Francis Scott Key, Ulysses S. Grant, and a group consisting of Don Quixote and his companion, Sancho Panza kneeling to honor their creator, Cervantes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (New Haven, Connecticut)</span> Former public statue in New Haven, Connecticut, United States

A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in New Haven, Connecticut, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Christopher Columbus (Newark, New Jersey)</span>

A statue of Christopher Columbus was a memorial in Washington Park in Newark, New Jersey, within the James Street Commons Historic District. It was made in Rome by Giuseppe Ciochetti and presented to the city by Newark's Italians in 1927. The statue was removed by the city in June 2020 to prevent its toppling in a Black Lives Matter protest.

References

  1. "Christopher Columbus Monument (in Grant Park)". City of Chicago. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Christopher Columbus" (PDF). Chicago Park District. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Mayor's Office Releases Statement After Columbus Statues Removed in Chicago". WMAQ 5 Chicago. NBC Universal. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. "Expect 75,000 At Columbus Statue Rites". Chicago Sunday Tribune. Chicago. July 30, 1933. Part 1, Page 6.
  5. Gardner, Virginia (August 4, 1933). "25,000 Italians Join in Colorful Program at Fair". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago. p. 13.
  6. "Christopher Columbus Statue at Chicago's Museum Campus Vandalized". WMAQ 5 Chicago. NBC Universal. June 13, 2020.
  7. Yin, Alice (July 17, 2020). "Attempt to topple Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park prompts standoff with police". Chicago Tribune. Chicago. Archived from the original on July 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  8. Riedy, James L., Chicago Sculpture, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1981 p. 204.