Victory, (sculpture).

Victory, (sculpture).

Tolpo, Vincent, 1950- , sculptor.

Art Casting of Illinois, founder.

Victory, (sculpture).

December 3, 2015.

Sculpture: bronze; Base: Joliet marble limestone.

Sculpture: 12 ft. 6 in.x 3 ft. x 3 ft.; Bronze base: 6 in. x 3 ft. x 3 ft.; Original limestone base: 82 ft. x 12 ft. x 12 ft.

Vincent Tolpo 2015 (copyright symbol) / Art Casting of Illinois / Funded by Monument Fund and the Anna Lee and Donald Ray Kraft Trust signed Founder's mark appears.

A contemporary version of "Victory" depicts a woman in robes striding forward holding a flag and pole. The woman is solemnly looking downward toward a point below.

Figure female -- Full length

Allegory -- Other -- Triumph

History -- United States -- Civil War

Object -- Other -- Flag

Outdoor Sculpture -- Illinois -- Freeport

Administered by Stephenson County, 15 North Galena Avenue, Freeport, Illinois 61032

Located Southern corner of Stephenson Street & Galena Avenue, Freeport, Illinois

This is a Civil War monument commemorating the dead and those who served from the Stephenson County area. The original thirteen foot high "Victory" sculpture created by Giovanni Meli in 1869 that once topped the Civil War Soldier's Monument adjacent to the Stephenson County Courthouse in Freeport was destroyed by lightning in 1960. After years of effort by various committees, a replacement "Victory" sculpture was created. After years of organizing, in 2014 the Civil War Monument Fund led by Jon Staben, Don Diestelmeier, and Don Kraft contracted with V&CL Tolpo LLC to create the new "Victory." The major portion of the funding came from the Anna Lee and Donald Ray Kraft Trust.

Just like the original 1869 statue that used new technology for its creation, so too is the new statue using new technology for its creation. The latest technology back in the late1860s was electroplating. The original "Victory" was first sculpted in ceramics and then electroplated with copper to achieve the appearance of bronze. The latest technology in 2015 is digital technology. The replacement "Victory" is using a digital scan of a live Freeport woman, Marlene Kleckler, costumed like the original "Victory." The digital scan produced a small-scale working statuette that was 3-D printed. This statuette, corrected by the artist, was then digitally sent to California for the milling of the full scale "Victory" in high-density foam. This final full scale sculpture was hand-refined by the artist, Vincent Tolpo, and then cast in bronze. The bronze casting was done by Art Casting of Illinois in Oregon, Illinois. The installation was supervised by artist David Engel. The artists of V&CL Tolpo LLC are Vincent Tolpo and Carolyn Lee Tolpo of Shawnee, Colorado.

The new "Victory" for Freeport has the same inspired posture and universal appearance as the original of 1869. The search for old photographs of the original "Victory" was assisted by the Stephenson County Historical Society. These photographs were used to recreate the costume and pose of the new "Victory." V&CL Tolpo LLC was charged with the difficult challenge of replacing the destroyed "Victory" with a new "Victory" while maintaining the artistic integrity of a contemporary work of art. The new "Victory" was approved by the State of Illinois Historic Preservation office because the Soldier's Monument has National Historic Designation.

Tolpo, Vincent, 2021.

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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