Sphinxes, (sculpture).

Sphinxes, (sculpture).

Moretti, Giuseppe, 1857-1935, sculptor.

Sphinxes, (sculpture).

1919-1943. Dedicated Nov. 1, 1919. Relocated 1991. Rededicated Oct. 22, 1994

Digital Reference:

Sphinxes: bronze; Upper bases: bronze; Lower bases: granite.

4 sphinxes Sphinxes: approx. 6 ft. 8 in. x 4 ft. x 15 ft.; Granite bases: approx. H. 2 ft.

(On left sphinx of each pair:) G. Moretti (On front of one bronze base, right sphinx of one pair:) ERECTED A.D. 1919 BY SYRIA TEMPLE A.A.O.N.M.S./IN HONOR OF THE NOBLES/WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WAR 1917-1918 (On front of one bronze base, right sphinx of one pair:) ERECTED A.D. 1949 BY SYRIA TEMPLE A.A.O.N.M.S./IN HONOR OF THE NOBLES/WHO SERVED IN THE WORLD WAR 1941-1945 (On front of bronze base of left sphinx of each pair:) THESE NOBLES WHOSE NAMES ARE HER COMMEMORATED/HAVE PROVED THEIR LOVE FOR THEIR COUNTRY/FOR LIBERTY, FOR JUSTICE, AND FOR HUMANITY,/BY OFFERING THEMSELVES AS LIVING SACRIFICES/UPON THE ALTAR OF THIS GREAT CAUSE./THEIR NAMES ARE RECORDED IN SYRIA TEMPLE,/BUT THEIR DEEDS IN THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD. signed

Four sphinxes, two of which guard each entrance to the Shriners' Syria Temple. Each sphinx is mounted on a rectangular bronze base which rests on a granite base. The sides of the bronze bases are adorned with names plates listing the thousands of Shriners who served in World War I and World War II. The front of the bronze bases are adorned with the Shriners' emblem, a sword with a crescent pendent featuring the head of a sphinx and a five-pointed star.

Mythology -- Egyptian -- Sphinx

History -- United States -- World War I

History -- United States -- World War II

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Hamarville

Syria Temple, 1877 Shriners Way, Entrances, Hamarville, Pennsylvania 15024

Formerly located Syria Temple, Bigelow Boulevard, Entrances, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1919-1991.

Moretti sculpted two sphinxes after a suggestion made by Shriner Potentate Joseph N. Mackrell that an appropriate memorial be erected to Shriner members who served in the Army and Navy during World War I. On Nov. 1, 1919, two sphinxes were dedicated at the entrance to the Shriner's Temple on Bigelow Boulevard in Pittsburgh. The sphinxes rested on granite bases inscribed with the names of 529 World War I Shriner servicemen. In 1943, two more sphinxes were cast for the Lytton Avenue side of the Temple. In 1949, bronze bases with name plates listing World War I and II Shriner servicemen were added to the sphinxes. When the Temple on Bigelow Boulevard was demolished in 1991, the sphinxes were put in storage until the new Shriner Temple in Harmarville was completed. In 1994, the sphinxes were installed at the entrances to the new temple in Harmarville and were dedicated with the building on Oct. 22, 1994. IAS files contain an excerpt from "The Shrine," Hiller Publishing Company, 1977, pg. 25. IAS image files contain photos taken in storage of two sphinxes.

Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 206.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA0212, 1989.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania survey, 1994.

Evert, Marilyn, "Discovering Pittsburgh's Sculpture," Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1983, pg. 260.

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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