Virginia Mourning Her Dead, (sculpture).

Virginia Mourning Her Dead, (sculpture).

Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, Sir, 1844-1917, sculptor.

Gladenbeck, Cuss W., assistant.

Virginia Mourning Her Dead, (sculpture).

1869. Cast May 15, 1900. Dedicated June 23, 1903.

Digital Reference:

Figure: bronze; Base: ashlar granite.

Figure: approx. H. 84 in.; Base: approx. H. 12 ft.

(On back of plinth:) EX-CADET/M EZEKIEL/Cast/ROME 1900/15 MAY/CUSS W. GLADENBECK (Five bronze plaques affixed to the sides of the base list the names of Virginia Military Institute cadets who served in the Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864: plaque on front of base lists names of Company A; plaque on proper right side of base lists names of Company B; plaque on proper left side of base lists names of Company C; one plaque on back of base lists names of Company D; and the other plaque on back of base lists names of field and staff, non-commissioned staff, and musicians.) signed

Female figure representing Virginia is shown mourning, seated on the remains of a fortress. Her proper right foot rests on a broken cannon overgrown with ivy, and her proper right knee is raised, propping up her proper right elbow which in turn holds up her head. She holds a reversed lance in her proper left hand, wears chain mail and sits on a piece of breast work. Her bowed head is covered by a liberty cap.

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Place -- Virginia

Allegory -- Passion -- Grief

History -- United States -- Civil War

Architecture -- Ruins -- Fortress

Object -- Weapon -- Spear

Object -- Weapon -- Cannon

Dress -- Historic -- Armor

Outdoor Sculpture -- Virginia -- Lexington

Administered by Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Military Institute Museum, Lexington, Virginia 24450

Located Virginia Military Institute, In front of Nichols Engineering Hall, facing the Parade Grounds, Lexington, Virginia 24450

Formerly located Virginia Military Institute, In front of Jackson Arch of Barracks, on Parade Grounds, Lexington, Virginia 1903-1912.

Gift of the sculptor, Sir Moses Jacob Ezekiel, 1903. Ezekiel was one of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) cadets at the Battle of New Market, May 15, 1864. He conceived this monument in 1869. Many years later, when he heard that there was interest in a New Market memorial at VMI, Ezekiel proposed his design, which was accepted. He then enlarged his model and had it cast in bronze in 1900. Six of the ten VMI cadets killed at New Market are buried beneath the monument, and their low white marble markers stand a few feet from the monument.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Virginia survey, 1995.

Virginia Military Institute, 1992.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, VA0052, 1989.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

"American Sculpture in Lexington: Selected Examples from Public Collections," Lexington, VA: Washington and Lee University, 1977.

Couper, William, "One Hundred Years at V.M.I.," Richmond, Virginia: Garrett & Massie, 1939.

Monumental News (Sept. 1903): pg. 539.

"American Sculpture in Lexington: Selected Examples from Public Collections," Lexington, VA: Washington and Lee University, 1977, pg. 40.

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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