Saturday, February 24, 2007

Statue of Victory

This statue of Victory is part of the Sherman Monument located on the south east corner of Central Park. The monument depicts Victory leading General William Tecumseh Sherman seated on his horse coming home from war. General Sherman was one of the generals who led the Union (northern states) against the Confederates (southern states) in the American Civil War .

The monument was created by August Saint-Gaudens in 1892-1903. Saint-Gaudens was one of the most important American sculptors of the Beaux-Arts era.

Victory is a common symbolic figure used in many war monuments to signify triumph. The figure is based on the Greek goddess Nike. One of the most famous of these statues is the Winged Victory at the Louvre in Paris.

9 comments:

isa said...

Nice photo, Ming!
I've seen the one at the Louvre - have you?

Unknown said...

ooo.. another statue in NYC. this one i have not heard of it, only the other famous one :-)

Ming the Merciless said...

isabella - Yes, I have. When I was in Paris in Jan 2006, I went to the Louvre and bee lined to the(1) Winged Victory, (2) Mona Lisa, and (3) Venus de Milo. Then I spent the next hour just wondering around the museum. I was there 10 years ago too.

keropokman - This is actually one of the famous monuments but I didn't take the photo of the "main" honoree. This statue accompanies the main statue.

Zannnie said...

oh it's a great shot!:)

p.s. sure, we have both elevated and underground MRT stations:) And in Singapore, the train stations are maintained very clean at all times...even these days, within the stations there isn't any more waste bins to be found due to a hoax about terrorist bombs drop in the bins that had scare the mass.

You will see an underground verison soon...;)

Anonymous said...

Nice victorious statue.

Paz

Annie said...

Sherman is the one whose soldiers stole food and ruined crops in the south, thus creating such hard feelings that many here are still angry.

Ming the Merciless said...

Annie - Really? WOW! My knowledge of the Civil War history is next to negligible. Thanks for the history lesson.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic framing and contrast !

Jenny said...

Is this the statue that was featured in the film version of Angels in America? (the one with Emma Thompson?) I always wondered what statue that was.