Francis Scott Key Monument, (sculpture).

Francis Scott Key Monument, (sculpture).

Mercie, Marius Jean Antonin, 1845-1916, sculptor.

Francis Scott Key Monument, (sculpture).

Francis Scott Key Fountain, (sculpture).

1911. Dedicated May 15, 1911.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze, marble, and granite; Base: granite; Fountain basin: granite.

Overall: approx. H. 40 ft. Figures: approx. H. 10 ft.; Base: approx. 25 ft. x 21 1/2 ft. x 19 ft. 3 in.; Reliefs: approx. H. 2 ft. 9 in. x W. 6 ft.; Fountain basin: approx. 38 ft. x 38 ft.

(On north side, just below the figure of Columbia:) KEY (On south side, below columns:) FRANCIS SCOTT KEY/ 1780-1843/ PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF BALTIMORE BY/ CHARLES L. MARBURG

The monument depicts Francis Scott Key returning from the British ship on which he had been detained during the bombardment of Fort McHenry, and offering an allegorical figure of Columbia his poem, the Star Spangled Banner, destined to become the National anthem. At the base of the monument, in a large circular basin, a bronze figure of Francis Scott Key stands in the stern of a stone rowboat, his long overcoat draped over his proper left shoulder and his proper right hand raised. The stone rowboat rides the crest of a stone wave and seated in the bow is a bronze figure of a barefoot sailor manning the oars. Both Key and the sailor look up toward the top of the monument where there is a standing bronze female figure representing Columbia. She strides forward holding up the American flag on her proper left side. Beneath the figure of Columbia is a square pavilion with four Doric Columns. At the base of the columns is a small bowl resting on a low pedestal. Below the bowl is a square base that is adorned with two bronze reliefs. One relief depicts the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the other relief depicts the guns and ramparts of Fort McHenry.

Portrait male -- Key, Francis Scott -- Full length

Occupation -- Writer -- Poet

Occupation -- Law -- Lawyer

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Civic -- Republic

Object -- Other -- Flag

History -- United States -- War of 1812

Figure group -- Male

Occupation -- Military -- Soldier

Occupation -- Military -- Sailor

Object -- Weapon -- Cannon

Architecture exterior -- Military -- Fort

Architecture -- Boat -- Rowboat

Outdoor Sculpture -- Maryland -- Baltimore

Administered by City of Baltimore, Recreation and Parks, 2600 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21217

Located Eutaw Place & Lanvale Street, Baltimore, Maryland

In 1907, Charles L. Marburg gave $25,000 to his brother, Theodore, to commission a monument honoring his favorite poet, Francis Scott Key. The monument illustrates the circumstances under which the Star Spangled Banner was written. Key had gone on board a British ship in the Baltimore harbor the day before the attack on Fort McHenry. He was a lawyer and was acting on behalf of a client, but when he was ready to leave, the British decided it was too risky to allow him to leave because he might have overheard them planning their attack. Thus he witnessed the bombing of Fort McHenry from out in the Baltimore harbor on board a British ship. The Francis Scott Key Monument is a reenactment of Key's return to shore after spending the night out in the harbor during which time he wrote the poem that became the national anthem.

Originally, the bronze figure of Columbia and the bronze reliefs on the base were gilded. At the dedication, the monument was unveiled by Francis Scott Key's granddaughter. The less than prominent site for the installation of the monument has been controversial.

IAS files contain an excerpt from William Sener Rusk's "Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials," Baltimore: Norman, Remington, 1929, pg. 52-53; and newspaper articles from Baltimore News, Nov. 17, 1927; The Sun (Baltimore, MD), Aug. 8, 1942 and Sept. 4, 1955; and The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), Oct. 6, 1960, pg. 15. For additional information see: Kathleen Kotarba's report "The Baltimore Bronze Project," Baltimore: Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, July 1989; Henry and Caroline Naylor's "Public Monuments & Sculpture of Baltimore: An Introduction to the Collection," 1987; and Wilbur Harvey Hunter's "The Monumental City, The Rinehart School of Sculpture 75th Anniversary Catalogue 1896-1971," pg. 16-47.

Treated 1999 Summer. SAT, Inc. (New York, NY). Treatment report on file with conservator and City of Baltimore, Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Maryland, Baltimore survey, 1993.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MD5026, MD5001, 1989.

Monumental News, Jan. 1910, pg. 36.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 1998.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 1999.

SOS Achievement Award, 2000.

The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), Oct. 6, 1960, pg. 15.

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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