Tripoli Monument, (sculpture).

Tripoli Monument, (sculpture).

Micali, Giovanni C., sculptor.

Tripoli Monument, (sculpture).

U. S. Naval Monument, (sculpture).

Naval Monument, (sculpture).

Peace Monument, (sculpture).

Carved 1806. Installed 1808. Relocated 1831. Relocated 1860.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: Carrara marble; Base: sandstone.

360 x 192 x 192 in.

(On north side of base:) GIOV. CHARLES MICALI INVENTO/IN LIVORNO 1806 (On west side of base:) THE LOVE OF GLORY INSPIRED THEM./FAME HAS CROWNED THEIR DEEDS./HISTORY RECORDS THE EVENT./THE CHILDREN OF COLUMBIA ADMIRE./AND COMMERCE LAMENTS THEIR FALL (On east side of base:) AS A SMALL TRIBUTE TO THEIR MEMORY/AND ADMIRATION OF THEIR VALOUR./SO WORTHY OF IMITATION/THEIR BROTHER OFFICERS/HAVE EXECUTED THIS MONUMENT (On south side of base:) ERECTED IN THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN/RICHARD SOMERS, LIEUTENANT/JAMES CALDWELL, JAMES DECATUR,/HENRY WADSWORTH, JOSEPH ISRAEL,/AND JOHN DORSEY WHO FELL IN THE DIFFICULT ATTACKS THAT WERE OF (...inscription illegible)/AND IN THE 28 YEARS OF THE INDEPENDENCE/OF THE UNITED STATES (On each side of base:) TO THE MEMORY OF/SOMERS, CALDWELL, DECATUR, WADSWORTH,/DORSEY, ISRAEL signed

The white marble sculpture consists of a thirty foot high column topped by an eagle and mounted on an elaborate base adorned with allegorical figures representing Glory, Fame, History, and Commerce. History, on the northwest corner, is represented by a seated female figure holding a book in her proper left hand and a pen made of bronze gilt in her proper right hand. She looks up and begins to record the event that she sees. Commerce, on the northeast corner, is represented by a male figure pointing to the column with his proper right hand and holding a caduceus in his proper left hand. Winged Victory stands beside the column, her proper right hand holding a laurel wreath over a sarcophagus and her proper left hand holding a bronze gilt palm branch. The column is adorned with two rows of antique "beaks of galleys" and two rows of antique anchors carved in relief. The sculpture rests on a square base constructed with blocks of stone and adorned with an urn on each corner.

History -- United States -- Tripolitan Wars

Allegory -- Arts & Sciences -- History

Allegory -- Other -- Triumph

Allegory -- Other -- Trade

Religion -- Angel

Homage -- Somers, Richard

Homage -- Caldwell, James

Homage -- Decatur, James

Homage -- Wadsworth, Henry

Homage -- Israel, Joseph

Homage -- Dorsey, John

United States Naval Academy, The Museum, 118 Maryland Avenue, Between Plebe Hall & Leahy Hall, Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5034

Formerly located United States Capitol, Washington, District of Columbia 1831-1860.

Formerly located Navy Yard, Washington, District of Columbia 1808-1931.

The memorial, originally known as the "Naval Monument," was erected in honor of those who fought and died in the war against the Barbary Pirates of North Africa, the first formal war under the nation's Constitution. The success of this battle marked the rebirth of American naval power, which had been disbanded after the Revolutionary War, and signaled the emergence of the Navy as a permanent military force. In particular, the memorial pays tribute to five Navy officers and a midshipman killed in an1805 battle with Barbary pirates. The memorial was funded by naval officers who assigned a portion of their pay for a memorial to the six fellow officers who sacrificed their lives at Tripoli.

Captain David Porter was aided by the Bishop of Florence in selecting the famous Italian sculptor Giovanni Micali to design and execute the piece for less than $3,000, about half what he usually charged for such a commission. The memorial was installed at Washington's Navy Yard in 1808, but was vandalized during the War of 1812 and was subsequently refurbished and relocated to the west terrace of the U.S. Capitol in 1831, and was relocated in 1860 to the Naval Academy.

IAS files contain an article from the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (January 1972); and "Alden's Collection of Epitaphs" by B. H. Latrobe Architect to the Capitol, Vol. 5, pg. 98.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Maryland survey, 1994.

Inventory staff, 2000.

"Compilation of Works of Art and Other Objects in the United States Capitol," The Architect of the Capitol, 1965, pp. 393.

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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