Coordinates | 41°45′54.5″N72°40′50.5″W / 41.765139°N 72.680694°W Coordinates: 41°45′54.5″N72°40′50.5″W / 41.765139°N 72.680694°W |
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Location | Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut, United States |
Designer | John Quincy Adams Ward (sculptor) R. M. Hunt (architect) |
Fabricator | Robert Wood & Company |
Type | Statue |
Material | Bronze Granite |
Length | 5 feet (1.5 m) |
Width | 4 feet (1.2 m) |
Height | 17 feet (5.2 m) |
Beginning date | 1872 or 1873 |
Completion date | 1873 |
Dedicated date | June 17, 1874 |
Dedicated to | Israel Putnam |
General Israel Putnam is a monumental statue in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Located in the city's Bushnell Park, the statue was designed by sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward and honors Israel Putnam, a military officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The statue was largely paid for by a donation from judge Joseph P. Allyn and was dedicated in a large ceremony in 1874. It was one of the first statues to be erected in the park, which nowadays houses several other monuments to famous Connecticut residents. From an artistic standpoint, the statue has received mixed reviews from critics.
Israel Putnam was a military officer who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. [1] Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1718, he moved to Connecticut in 1739 and died there in 1790, having become a folk hero in the state. [2]
In 1869, Joseph P. Allyn, a judge from the state capital of Hartford, Connecticut, died. [1] In his will he allocated US$5,000 to his father and two other men for the purposes of erecting a monument in honor of Putnam in Hartford's Bushnell Park. [1] His father added an additional $5,000 of his own money and, in either 1872 or 1873, [3] the trustees chose to commission sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward to design a statue of Putnam. [1] The statue would be the first of six Revolutionary War sculptures Ward would create during his lifetime. [2] R. M. Hunt of New York City designed an accompanying pedestal for the statue, which cost about $2,000 and was paid for by the city government of Hartford. [1] Ultimately, the monument cost a total of at least $14,000. [note 1] Ward completed the sculpture in 1873 while he was also working on some sculptures for the Connecticut State Capitol, located near Bushnell Park. [5] Casting was performed by the Robert Wood & Company foundry in Philadelphia. [3]
The monument was dedicated on June 17, 1874, in a large ceremony at the park. [1] The dedication took place on the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (a Revolutionary War battle in which Putnam participated almost 100 years prior) and occurred during a wave of monument-building in the United States that honored both Revolutionary and Civil War-era figures. [5] The statue would be one of the first to be erected in the park, [5] coming several years after the erection of the first statue in the park, one of Bishop Thomas Church Brownell, in 1869. [4]
In 1993, the monument was surveyed as part of the Save Outdoor Sculpture! project. [3]
The monument consists of a bronze statue of Putnam, standing 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, [note 2] atop a granite pedestal standing 10 feet (3.0 m) tall. [3] [1] The sculpture has side dimensions of approximately 2.5 feet (0.76 m) by 1.5 feet (0.46 m), while the rectangular pedestal has side measurements of 5 feet (1.5 m) by 4 feet (1.2 m). [3] Putnam is dressed in his military garb from the Revolutionary War, including a frock coat and cravat, and is depicted in midstride. [3] [5] He is holding a sword by his side with his left hand, while his relaxed right hand holds onto a tricorne. [3] According to an 1874 article in The Aldine , Ward modeled Putnam's face off of an ink portrait belonging to his descendants and a portrait created by John Trumbull. [3] The base of the sculpture bears markings from the designer and foundry (J.Q.A. WARD / 1873 / R. WOOD & CO / BRONZE FOUNDERS. / PHILA.), while the front of the pedestal reads "ISRAEL PUTNAM" and the back bears the inscription "PRESENTED / BY THE HONOURABLE / JOSEPH PRATT ALLYN / MDCCCLXXIII". [3]
Contemporary reviews of the statue were generally mixed. An 1888 article by T. H. Bartlett in The American Architect and Building News states that the public was disappointed in Ward's portrayal of Putnam, saying, "Artists, as well as the public, have criticized, justly, the position and character of the statue." [6] However, a 1903 article by Amanda M. Flattery in The Bay View Magazine lists the statue among several other examples of Ward's "genius", including his equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas and statue of George Washington. [7] The Bushnell Park Foundation, which oversees the park and administers the statue, observe that "[i]n Ward’s rendering of Putnam taking a step forward, he is no longer a static figure but a candid portrayal of a fleeting moment as the general strides forth", which lends "a more natural, spontaneous character and heightened the realism of his sculpture". They proceed to note that while the monument is "a radical departure from his work in the post-Civil War period, this statue marks a new and important dimension in his work". [2]
Israel Putnam, popularly known as "Old Put", was an American army general officer who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He also served notably as an officer with Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), when he was captured by Mohawk warriors. He was saved from the ritual burning given to enemies by the intervention of a French officer with whom the Mohawk were allied.
John Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City.
The Connecticut State Capitol is located north of Capitol Avenue and south of Bushnell Park in Hartford, the capital of Connecticut. The building houses the Connecticut General Assembly; the upper house, the State Senate, and lower house, the House of Representatives, as well as the office of the Governor of the State of Connecticut. The Connecticut Supreme Court occupies a building across Capitol Avenue.
Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. It was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in the mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognized. Today the park comprises 50 acres (20 ha) of green space, and is visited by over one million people each year. Paths through the park contribute to the East Coast Greenway.
The James A. Garfield Monument stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in the circle at First Street, S.W., and Maryland Avenue, Washington, D.C. It is a memorial to United States President James A. Garfield, elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881 after serving only four months of his term, by a disgruntled office-seeker named Charles J. Guiteau.
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Connecticut is located at 453 Fairfield Avenue. It was designed by landscape architect Jacob Weidenmann (1829–1893) who also designed Hartford's Bushnell Park. Its first sections were completed in 1866 and the first burial took place on July 17, 1866. Cedar Hill was designed as an American rural cemetery in the tradition of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
William Shakespeare has been commemorated in a number of different statues and memorials around the world, notably his funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon ; a statue in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, London, designed by William Kent and executed by Peter Scheemakers (1740); and a statue in New York's Central Park by John Quincy Adams Ward (1872).
Matthew Perry Monument is a statue commemorating Commodore Matthew C. Perry. The statue is situated in Touro Park facing Bellevue Avenue in the heart of Newport, Rhode Island and was designed by John Quincy Adams Ward in 1869. The pedestal was designed by Richard Morris Hunt.
Major General George Henry Thomas, also known as the Thomas Circle Monument, is an equestrian sculpture in Washington, D.C. that honors Civil War general George Henry Thomas. The monument is located in the center of Thomas Circle, on the border of the downtown and Logan Circle neighborhoods. It was sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward, best known for his work on the statue of George Washington in Wall Street, Manhattan. Attendees at the dedication in 1879 included President Rutherford B. Hayes, Generals Irvin McDowell, Philip Sheridan, and William Tecumseh Sherman, senators and thousands of soldiers.
The General William Tecumseh Sherman Monument is an equestrian statue of American Civil War Major General William Tecumseh Sherman located in Sherman Plaza, which is part of President's Park in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The selection of an artist in 1896 to design the monument was highly controversial. During the monument's design phase, artist Carl Rohl-Smith died, and his memorial was finished by a number of other sculptors. The Sherman statue was unveiled in 1903. It is a contributing property to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. and to the President's Park South, both of which are historic sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
General Artemas Ward is a bronze statue of American Revolutionary War general Artemas Ward by Leonard Crunelle at Ward Circle, at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues in Northwest, Washington, D.C.
Karl Gerhardt was a United States sculptor, best known for his death mask of President Ulysses S. Grant and a portrait bust of Mark Twain.
Carl H. Conrads was an American sculptor best known for his work on Civil War monuments and his two works in the National Statuary Hall Collection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. He was also known as Charles Conrads.
The Henry Ward Beecher Monument, a statue of Henry Ward Beecher created by the sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, was unveiled on June 24, 1891 in Borough Hall Park, Brooklyn and was later relocated to Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn in 1959.
Indian Hunter is an outdoor bronze sculpture by John Quincy Adams Ward, located at Central Park in Manhattan, New York.
The Lincoln Goodale Monument, is an 1888 bust depicting the physician of the same name, installed in Columbus, Ohio's Goodale Park, in the United States.
The Israel Putnam Monument is an equestrian statue located in Brooklyn, Connecticut, United States. The monument, designed by sculptor Karl Gerhardt, was dedicated in 1888 in honor of Israel Putnam, a Connecticut native who served as a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The monument was created as a response to the deteriorated condition of Putnam's grave in Brooklyn's cemetery, and the state government allocated funds for the monument with the provision that it also serve as a tomb for Putnam. Upon its completion, Putnam's remains were reinterred under the monument. The dedication was held on June 14 in a large ceremony with several guests of honor, including the governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island. The monument was criticized by contemporary reviewers, who especially criticized the horse, with one review noting that it appeared to be suffering from bone spavin.
General Israel Putnam, also known as Putnam's Escape at Horseneck, is an equestrian statue at the Putnam Memorial State Park in Redding, Connecticut, United States. The statue was designed by sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington and dedicated in 1969 in honor of Connecticut native Israel Putnam, a military officer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
Dr. Horace Wells, also known as the Horace Wells Monument, is a monumental statue in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The statue, located in the city's Bushnell Park, was designed by sculptor Truman Howe Bartlett and dedicated in 1875 in honor of Horace Wells, a dentist who was a pioneer in the use of anesthesia.
Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, also known as the Ambrose Burnside Monument, is a monumental equestrian statue in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The statue, located in the city's Burnside Park, was designed by sculptor Launt Thompson and depicts Ambrose Burnside, an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who later served as the governor of Rhode Island. Ambrose had died in 1881 and the project to erect a statue in his honor began shortly afterwards. It was dedicated on July 4, 1887 in a large ceremony that included several notable guests of honor, such as General William Tecumseh Sherman, Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard, and the governors of both Connecticut and Rhode Island. The monument was originally located in Exchange Place, but it was moved to its current location in the early 1900s. As part of the move, the pedestal was replaced with one designed by William R. Walker.