Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch: (Arch), (sculpture).

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch: (Arch), (sculpture).

Duncan, John Hemingway, 1855-1929, sculptor.

Gallagher, Bernard, engineer.

Martiny, Philip, 1858-1927, sculptor.

MacMonnies, Frederick William, 1863-1937, sculptor.

Eakins, Thomas, 1844-1916, sculptor.

O'Donovan, William Rudolf, 1844-1920, sculptor.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch: (Arch), (sculpture).

Cornerstone laid Oct. 30, 1889. Dedicated Oct. 1892.

Arch: white granite with dark polished granite near base.

Arch: 80 x 80 x 35 ft.

(Across arch span:) TO THE DEFENDERS OF THE UNION 1861-1865

Located at the entrance to Prospect Park on the southern side of Grand Army Plaza is a granite memorial arch adorned with several bronze sculptural groups. The inside part of the arch is fifty feet high and thirty-five feet wide. The north and south side pedestals of the arch are faced with engaged columns adorned with capitols composed of fruits of the sea and land, eagles, and ships' prows. On panels between the columns are medallions that represent the Army and Navy corps in which Brooklyn men served during the Civil War. The spandrel panels on the south side of the arch contain reliefs of reclining winged figures, one on each side, weighing approximately fourteen tons each. Between the spandrel figures, at the top of the arch, is a keystone of an eagle that weighs nine tons. Bronze figure groups were later installed on the south side pedestals and on top of the arch.

History -- United States -- Civil War

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Brooklyn

Administered by City of New York, Department of Parks and Recreation, The Arsenal - Central Park, New York, New York 10021

Located Prospect Park, Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, New York

John Hemingway Duncan won the one thousand dollar prize for the design of the arch. Engineer, Bernard Gallagher received the contract to build the arch. Philip Martiny created the spandrel relief figures. Construction began in August of 1889 and the cornerstone was laid by General William Tecumseh Sherman on October 30, 1889. The memorial arch, dedicated to the men who fought in the Union forces during the Civil War, was first proposed by Seth Low while he was mayor of Brooklyn (1882-1885), but serious attention was not given to the project until Alfred C. Chapin was mayor (1888-1891). It was then that veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic sought subscriptions for the construction of the arch. The State Legislature issued bonds to assist with the cost of the construction and later appropriated 250,000 dollars toward construction costs.

Leading sculptors of the day were commissioned by Brooklyn's Park Commission to decorate the arch. Frederick William MacMonnies, a native of Brooklyn, created both bronze figure groups of soldiers (Navy -IAS 76002867 and Army -IAS 76002933) installed on the south side of the pedestals in 1901. He also created the triumphal quadriga of Victory (IAS 76007356) installed on the top of the arch in 1898, and the plaza's four columns and eagles (NY000081). Thomas Eakins worked with William O'Donovan to create the relief panels added to the inside of the arch. Eakins designed the horses on which O'Donovan's figures of Lincoln (IAS 76009711) and Grant (IAS 76009712) are mounted.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Lederer, Joseph, "All Around the Town: A Walking Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in New York City," New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975, pg. 213.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York, New York survey, 1994.

SOS Assessment Award, 1997.

SOS Achievement Award, 2000.

Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 8.

Lederer, Joseph, "All Around the Town: A Walking Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in New York City," New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975, pg. 212.

Dupre, Judith, "Monuments: America's History in Art and Memory," New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2007, pg. 8.

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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