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Columbus Monument
Design for Buyens's Christopher Columbus Monument, published in the Sacred Heart Review on July 2, 1892.
ArtistAlois G. Buyens
Completion dateOctober 12, 1892
MediumBronze
DimensionsBase: approx. 100 x 70 x 59 in.

The Columbus Monument is a monument by the sculptor Alois G. Buyens depicting Christopher Columbus, commissioned by members of the Boston-area Catholic community in 1892.[1] It is one of the first statues that the Belgian-born Buyens created after coming to America in 1892 and opening a studio in Boston.[2] The monument was to be installed at La Isabella to mark the site of the first Catholic Church in the Americas.[1] A copy of the monument was installed in Boston. The Boston version was moved several times, and it is now located in front of the Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Revere, Massachusetts.[3][4]

History and Funding[edit]

Throughout the nineteenth century, Columbus was rising in importance in the Catholic American community's foundation story in their self-understanding as a new people on the move.[5] According to The Sacred Heart Review, a prominent New England publication for the Catholic community, it was considered "proper to speak of the celebration of Columbus Day in Boston as a Catholic demonstration."[6]

In September 1891, Thomas H. Cummings suggested to The Sacred Heart Review to erect a monument to Columbus at La Isabela, his first settlement in Santo Domingo to commemorate the beginning of the Christian civilization in America.[7] The Sacred Heart Review suggested to erect a replica in a public space in Boston.[8] In September 1892, the City Council of Boston agreed to dedicate a duplicate of the La Isabela statue for the fourth centennial year of the discovery of America. The sculpture was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus.[9]

Design and construction[edit]

The design was mostly drawn by Richard Andrew, a student at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (called State Normal Art School at the time). Alois G. Buyens was selected as the sculptor. There had been many debates on Columbus' artistic representation but Buyens was chosen for his "bold and vigorous treatment of the Flemish School, of which Mr. Buyens is a disciple."[10]

Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee manufactured the statue, which is made of bronze.[11]

Dedication[edit]

Copley Square was first chosen as the appropriate location for the statue. However, after an exhibition of the model, its location was heavily criticized by the State Arts Commission and the statue was eventually finalized to be placed at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End, the first church built for Boston's Roman Catholics.[7] Though the reason for the criticism is not clarified, author Marty Carlock wrote in A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston that the "huge statue overpowered its site" at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.[12]

The statue was dedicated on October 21 in front of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.[9][10] The ceremony took place for Columbus Day with a parade, followed by a procession where Captain Nathan Appleton revealed that the Governor of Massachusetts, the Mayor of the city of Boston, the Italian Consul, and the Collector of the Port of Boston had all appointed a committee to erect a statue to Columbus in the Public Garden but the project was never carried out because of a lack of funds.[13] The Sacred Heart Review praised the Buyens statue for getting accomplished despite "the united energies of all those functionaries."[6]

In the 1920s, the statue was discretely relocated to St. Anthony's Church in Revere to equally balance a statue of St. Anthony's standing on the opposite side of the church.[12]

Criticism[edit]

In July, 2020, many Columbus monuments were subject to increasing scrutiny and were taken down by protestors during the Black Lives Matter movement.[14] Indigenous groups called for the decapitated Columbus monument in the North End to be removed, citing the statue stood for white supremacy and indigenous genocide.[15]

The Buyens monument itself also received calls for removal on social media: "will St. Anthony of Padua Church in Revere MA do the right thing as well and take down their big Columbus statue as well?"[16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Our Columbus Monument". The Sacred Heart Review. 8 (6): 3–4. 1892-10-22.
  2. ^ "Venerable Belgian Sculptor Happy in Retirement on Farm: Things of Beauty Wrought From Shapeless Stone". Christian Science Monitor. March 9, 1933. p. 5.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ "Moving Statue of Columbus: From Holy Cross Cathedral Yard to Revere". Boston Daily Globe. June 23, 1925. p. A9.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Carlock, Marty (1988). Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston. Harvard Common Press. p. 169.
  5. ^ Kauffman, Christopher (1993). "Christopher Columbus and American Catholic Identity: 1880-1900". U.S. Catholic Historian. 11 (2): 93–110. ISSN 0735-8318.
  6. ^ a b "The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 8, Number 23 — 29 October 1892 — Boston College Newspapers". newspapers.bc.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  7. ^ a b "The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 8, Number 22 — 22 October 1892 — Boston College Newspapers". newspapers.bc.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  8. ^ "The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 8, Number 19 — 1 October 1892 — Boston College Newspapers". newspapers.bc.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  9. ^ a b Vincent, John Martin (1892). The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 75.
  10. ^ a b "The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 8, Number 6 — 2 July 1892 — Boston College Newspapers". newspapers.bc.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  11. ^ "Revere - Christopher Columbus". statues.vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  12. ^ a b "Revere - Christopher Columbus". statues.vanderkrogt.net. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  13. ^ "The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 8, Number 23 — 29 October 1892 — Boston College Newspapers". newspapers.bc.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  14. ^ Diaz, Johnny (2020-06-10). "Christopher Columbus Statues in Boston, Minnesota and Virginia Are Damaged". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  15. ^ "Indigenous groups call for permanent removal of North End Columbus statue | Boston.com". www.boston.com. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  16. ^ "https://twitter.com/lowlowtide/status/1278180422351020033". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-04-02. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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