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Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont » Richmond Metropolitan Area » Church Hill » Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

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1894, Wilfred Emory Cutshaw, designer; William Ludwell Sheppard, sculptor. 29th St. and Libby Terrace

This project took form in 1888 when the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument Association was formed. Cutshaw, the city engineer, selected Trajan's Column in Rome as the inspiration for the new monument, although he departed significantly from the model in his details. Employing a Roman victory column to memorialize a vanquished army seems an ironic choice. Cutshaw's alignment of the great Corinthian column with the axis of Main Street at the foot of Libby Hill was a gesture typical of the City Beautiful movement. Sheppard picked a local Confederate veteran as his model for the quintessential Confederate soldier perched on the top of the column.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Richard Guy Wilson et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Libby Hill Park and Park Keeper's House
Residence
Residences
Double Houses
Walker House

Citation

Richard Guy Wilson et al., "Soldiers and Sailors Monument", [Richmond, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-01-RI91.

Print Source

Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont, Richard Guy Wilson and contributors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, 203-203.

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