|
The Washington Monument is the centerpiece of Mount Vernon Place, an urban square in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first major monument begun to honor George Washington. ==History== The Monument, a colossal column, was designed by American architect Robert Mills, who also designed the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Construction began in 1815 on land donated by John Eager Howard and the masonry work was completed by 1829. The 178 foot 8 inch doric column holds a ground-floor gallery offering digital exhibits about the construction of the Monument and the history of Mount Vernon Place. Climbing the 227 steps to the top provides an excellent view of the city from the historic neighborhood where it is located. Its neighbors include the Peabody Institute and The Walters Art Museum. The glorification of Washington began long before his death in December 1799. Congress had first announced a desire for a sculpture in his honor in 1783, and after this death revived the idea of a memorial. However, these expressions of honor in the national capital floundered and would not be realized for decades. A monument honoring Washington in Baltimore was first proposed as early as 1807, and in 1809 a Board of Managers of private citizens formed to commission and fund the monument intended to be erected in Courthouse Square on Calvert Street (today's Battle Monument Square). In 1810, the first lottery authorized by the Maryland General Assembly, was held. In 1813 an architectural competition was announced with a $500 prize to design and build the Monument at a cost of $100,000. Mills's design was chosen 1814, the architect having taken pains to demonstrate to the Board of Managers that he was the first native born American with architectural training. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1815.〔Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, “Historical Timeline: Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place” http://mvpconservancy.org/digital-exhibits/〕 Mills's competition-winning designs included rich ornamentation, six iron galleries dividing the exterior into seven sections with text and images on each level highlighting important moments in Washington's life. An interior spiral staircase led to the top, where surmounting the column Washington was depicted in a quadriga. Concerns over the expense of this design, as well as its projected height caused changes in not only its design, but location. Resident of Courthouse Square feared the tall column would fall on their houses in the event of some natural disaster, so a new location was found in Howard's Woods, north of the city, and a 200 square foot land donated by Revolutionary War hero John Eager Howard. By the time the Monument's cornerstone was laid in Howard's Woods in 1815, Mills had significantly simplified the design as depicted in an account of the July 4 ceremony.〔 The design of the completed column is very similar to the Colonne Vendôme, which ultimately derived from Trajan's Column and was adopted in this time of Neoclassicism in American architecture. The dignified cornerstone ceremony was overseen by the Monument’s Board of Managers. Board President James Buchanan observed that the city of Baltimore had not only “the glory of being the first to erect a monument of gratitude to the father and benefactor of our country,” but that it had a “peculiar propriety” in erecting “this first expression of national gratitude,” because of its successful defense against the British during the Battle of Baltimore the previous fall.〔See the full 1815 account https://archive.org/details/authenticaccount00prat〕 At the ceremony it was declared that the Monument was to stand as “memorial of the blessings and advantages that our country derived from the character of and conduct of that personage whose name it is to bear, and whose virtues it is to perpetuate.” Following speeches, the cornerstone was laid by Levin Winder, then Governor of Maryland and head of the Maryland Freemasons, in a dignified masonic ceremony. The entire proceedings were printed in the local newspaper, picked up by newspapers in other major cities, and published in a souvenir booklet with illustrations.〔 Almost from the moment the cornerstone was laid, and particularly as the structure began to rise out of the ground (the first marble was laid in 1816), the Monument was a destination and an active memorial. In June 1817, during President James Monroe’s visit to the city, his itinerary included a visit to the Monument. Construction sites in the early nineteenth century were not what they are today, and during the building period it is clear the Monument was visited inside and out. As early as 1819 guests were leaving evidence of their visit in the Monument’s subterranean vaults. By shortly after 1820 with the column proper largely complete with its integral interior staircase, visitors were climbing to the top. New York newspaper editor Nathaniel H. Carter visited in February 1823 and climbed to the top, escorted by a boy with a candle, to take in the views of the city.〔“Arrival of the President,” June 2, 1817, Baltimore Patriot. During the 2014-15 restoration graffiti dating as early as 1819 was found in the Monument’s basement. See http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2014-02-07/news/bs-md-ci-monument-discovery-20140207_1_lance-humphries-mount-vernon-place-conservancy-washington-monument. See “Baltimore,” which prints Carter’s account of his visit, Feb. 19, 1823, Baltimore Patriot.〕 The monument, constructed of marble from three quarries in Baltimore County, Maryland, rises 178 feet 8 inches and consists of three main elements: a low, square base containing a gallery; a plain, unfluted column; and, atop the column, a standing figure of Washington. The marble was sourced from three quarries: the base from General Charles Ridgely's quarry, the column and other details from Scott's quarry, and the statue from the quarry of Mrs. Frances D. T. Taylor.〔http://mvpconservancy.org/digital-exhibits/ Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, “Washington Monument, Monument Facts”〕 Washington is depicted on the top of the Monument resigning his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, an act which took place in the Maryland State House on December 23, 1783. The statue was carved by Italian-born sculptor Enrico Causici, who previous to his work on the Monument had been employed carving reliefs for the United States Capitol. William Rusk, in his book ''Art in Baltimore: Monuments and Memorials'', tells the following story about the raising of Causici's marble statue of Washington in 1829. "Tradition recalls a prodigy occurring when the statue was raised to the summit of the monument - a shooting star dashed across the sky and an eagle lit on the head of the settling general." Details added to the Monument in the 1830s include the bronze inscriptions on all facades documenting eight principal events in George Washington's life, including his military and presidential career. Former President John Quincy Adams assisted the Monument's Board of Managers in determining the wording of these events. The interior of the Monument was stuccoed at this time and exterior wood doors installed, painted to imitate ancient Roman bronze doors. The cast iron fence around the base was also designed by Mills and added in 1838. It contains symbolic references to the Maryland and the strength achieved through the union of the original thirteen colonies.〔 Other memorials to Washington were erected in Maryland and in the nearby national capital, including the one now in Washington Monument State Park (near Boonsboro, Maryland and the Appalachian Trail), which was first constructed in 1827.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/washington.asp )〕 The Boonsboro monument as it now stands reflects at least two rebuildings after the structure had fallen into ruin. In 1848 Mills's Washington Monument in the national capital was begun, but it would not be completed and dedicated until 1885. Because of this, for decades the Baltimore Washington Monument served as a leading symbol of American pride and gratitude towards George Washington, as a founding father and the first President of the nation. Mid 19th century maps, for instance, pair the Baltimore column with the Capitol building because the Washington, DC monument had only just begun. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Washington Monument (Baltimore)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|