Henry Ward Beecher Monument

The statue of Henry Ward Beecher in Columbus Park in the Civic Center of downtown Brooklyn

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.

Background

Henry Ward Beecher was a 19th-century liberal theologian, preacher, and orator. After making a death mask of Beecher, Ward was contracted to execute the Beecher monument on April 6, 1888 for by the Beecher Statue Fund to "design, model, execute and complete in fine bronze a statue...eight feet in height."[1] To create the monument, Ward worked from the death mask in addition to photographs.

The figures of the children below the base of the monument symbolize the role Beecher played in the abolitionist movement and his devotion to children. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art catalog by Lewis I. Sharp,[2] the statue was widely acclaimed as one of the finest public monuments in the country. There was criticism from Beecher's family and friends regarding the accuracy of the subject's likeness.[2]

See also

Coordinates: 40°41′41.5″N 73°59′24.4″W / 40.694861°N 73.990111°W / 40.694861; -73.990111

References

  1. ↑ "Box 1". J.Q.A. Ward Papers. The New York Historical Society.
  2. 1 2 Sharp, Lewis I. (June 18, 1974). New York City Public Sculpture: by 19th-Century Artists (Exhibition catalogue). New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 68.
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