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    		• Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, Sir,
     
  •  
    		• Figure group
     
  •  
    		• Allegory -- Civic
     
  •  
    		• Dress -- Historic
     
  •  
    		• Animal -- Bird
     
  •  
    		• Allegory -- Civic
     
  •  
    		• Allegory -- Religion
     
  •  
    		• Animal -- Reptile
     
  •  
    		• Allegory -- Civic
     
  •  
    		• Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
     
  •  
    		• Sculpture
     
     
    Religious Liberty, (sculpture).
    Artist: 
    Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, Sir, 1844-1917, sculptor.
    Title: 
    Religious Liberty, (sculpture).
    Dates: 
    1876. Dedicated Nov. 1876. Rededicated 1976. Relocated 1984. Rededicated May 4, 1986.
    Digital Reference: 
    Image Image Image
    Medium: 
    Sculpture: marble; Base: granite.
    Dimensions: 
    Sculpture: approx. 144 x 90 x 64 in.; Base: approx. 240 x 90 x 64 in.
    Inscription: 
    (Sculpture, lower proper left:) ...illegible signature/ROMA/1876 (Base, front, raised letters:) RELIGIOUS LIBERTY./DEDICATED/TO THE/PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES/BY THE/ORDER B'NAI B'RITH/AND/ISRAELITES OF AMERICA./IN COMMEMORATION/OF THE/CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY/OF/AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. (Base, small plaque on front:) B'NAI B'RITH REDEDICATION/STATE OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM/BICENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY/1976/DAVID BLUMBERG, PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL KAYGEY KASH, PRESIDENT WOME(SIC)/I. BUDD ROCKOWER, CHAIRMAN BETTY SHAPIRO, CO-CHAIRMAN signed
    Description: 
    Liberty is a monumental female figure dressed in chain mail and a toga. On her head she wears a helmet adorned with thirteen stars, one for each of the thirteen original colonies. She holds the constitution scrolled up in her proper left hand. Her proper right arm is raised above the figure of Religion, a youth standing on her proper right side. At her feet, on her proper left side, is an American eagle, representing American democracy, attacking a serpent, representing tyranny and injustice.
    Subject: 
    Figure group
    Allegory -- Civic -- Liberty
    Dress -- Historic -- Armor
    Animal -- Bird -- Eagle
    Allegory -- Civic -- Democracy
    Allegory -- Religion
    Animal -- Reptile -- Snake
    Allegory -- Civic -- Injustice
    Object Type: 
    Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
    Sculpture
    Owner: 
    National Museum of American Jewish History, 55 North 5th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106
    Provenance: 
    Formerly located Fairmount Park, Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until 1984.
    Remarks: 
    Inscription which appears on a plaque to the south of the sculpture reads: Commissioned by B'nai B'rith for the United States Centennial, "Religions/Liberty" was dedicated in Fairmount Park on Thanksgiving Day in 1876./Carved in Rome from a single block of carrara marble, the statue was/executed by Sir Moses Ezekiel, an American Jewish sculptor./The monument was rededicated by B'nai B'rith International for this nation's/Bicentennial in 1976./The allegorical group represents liberty protecting religious freedom. The/female figure wears the liberty cap bordered by thirteen stars for each of the/original American colonies. In her left hand, she holds the constitution of/the United States, the legal instrument by which freedom is guaranteed to all/citizens./Religion is personified by a youth standing beside the figure of Liberty,/whose outstretched arm extends over him protectively. His right hand/ reaches toward her, while in his left, he holds the inextinguishable flame of/faith./At the base of the group is an American eagle crushing a serpent in its/talons, signifying the triumph of American democracy over the tyranny of/intolerance and oppression./The monument was relocated to Independence Mall and rededicated on May/4, 1986 in an historic joint venture between B'nai B'rith International and/the National Museum of American Jewish History./From this site, the statue proclaims in harmony with the Liberty Bell only/steps away, a resounding message of religious freedom for all peoples.
    The cost of the sculpture was 30,000 dollars. Related information can be found in the "Illustrated History of the Centennial Exposition," pg. 327-329 and the 1985 exhibition catalog for the piece both of which can be found in the library of the National Museum of American Jewish History.
    References: 
    Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985
    Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 85.
    Bach, Penny Balkin, "Public Art in Philadelphia," Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pg. 201.
    Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.
    Illustration: 
    Image on file.
    Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 85.
    Note: 
    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.
    Repository: 
    Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
    Control Number: 
    IAS 77002508
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    Smithsonian AmericanArt MuseumControl Number 
    Inventory of American Sculpture77002508Add Copy to MyList

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