Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Memorial, (sculpture).

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Memorial, (sculpture).

Schweizer, J. Otto, 1863-1955, sculptor.

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg Memorial, (sculpture).

ca. 1917. Installed Oct. 27, 1917.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 9 ft. x 15 ft. x 3 ft. 8 in.; Base: approx. 7 ft. x 19 ft. x 7 ft. 10 in.; Reliefs: approx. H. 72 in.

(Bottom of side facing building, and also on bottom of figure on the side facing the building:) J. Otto Schweizer, sc. 1917 (Base, front center:) HENRY MELCHIOR/MUHLENBERG/PATRIATCH/LUTHERAN CHURCH/IN AMERICA/PASTOR IN PHILADELPHIA/1742-1787 signed

The monument consists of a standing figure of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg flanked by two reliefs depicting his congregation. Muhlenberg, wearing a wig and the ecclesiastical robes of a Lutheran minister, raises his proper right hand as if in the middle of a sermon. The reliefs of the congregation, separated by sex, depict female worshipers on his proper left and male worshipers on his proper right. The figures are seated and appear almost in profile as they face Muhlenberg. The sculpture and reliefs are mounted on a low rectangular base.

Portrait male -- Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior -- Full length

Occupation -- Religion

Ethnic -- German

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Lutheran Theological Seminary, 7301 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"Sculpture of a City" notes that this sculpture was originally commissioned by the City to be placed on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, but was later purchased by the Lutheran Seminary and installed in 1917. However, IAS files contain an article from the Philadelphia Theological Seminary (Fall 1992) newsletter which notes that sculpture, originally thought of as a celebration of the quadricentennial of the Reformation, was to be erected in a prominent place in Philadelphia, but when a location could not be agree upon, it was decided that the monument would be placed at the Theological Seminary. The bronze reliefs were not ready by the dedication day and had to be installed later. Funding for the monument was provided chiefly through offers from the sunday schools. IAS files contain articles from the Philadelphia (Lutheran Theological) Seminary Bulletin 68 (Summer 1985): pg. 4-5 which describes the recent restoration and names two of the models for the congregation figures.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 305.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 305.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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