''Admiral David Glasgow Farragut'', also known as the Admiral Farragut Monument, is an outdoor bronze statue of

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. F ...

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...

on a stone sculptural

exedra An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

, installed in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Madison Square Madison Square is a town square, public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The square ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

of New York.

Description and history

The statue, cast in 1880 and dedicated on May 25, 1881, is set on a

Coopersburg, Pennsylvania Coopersburg is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The population of Coopersburg was 2,447 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Allentown and is located miles southeast of Allentown, north of Philadelphia, and west of New York City ...

black granite In the construction industry, black rocks that share the hardness and strength of granitic rocks are known as black granite. In geological terms, black granite might be gabbro, diabase, basalt, diorite, norite, or anorthosite Anorthosite () i ...

pedestal. The work depicts Farragut, the noted

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

admiral of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, standing in naval uniform with binoculars and sword; the statue rests upon a

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

and then a

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

, surrounded by a semicircular, winged

, which features a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

figure of a seated female on either side. The Farragut statue was Saint-Gaudens's first major work and as a result certain rumors and allegations arose. Sculptor Truman Bartlett found the work "better than anyone who knew him expected" and so began a "campaign to slur and slang him," suggesting that the statue had in fact been made by sculptors in Paris. The statue was cast in Paris by Adolphe Gruet. The inscription on the base was composed by Stanford White's father, Richard Grant White. John Dryfhout wrote of the inscriptions and the base that the "intermingling of natural forms of sinuous linearity with ideal reliefs and symbols, is notable as the first expression of a form of American art nouveau." The original

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge) * fe ...

base, likely carved by Saint-Gaudens or his brother

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

, weathered badly and was replaced by the current granite base as a

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...

project during the 1930s. The earlier base was moved to

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. This was his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his perman ...

in Cornish, New Hampshire.

Study

A bronze bust that is a study for the sculpture is in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

References

External links

* {{Public art in Manhattan 1881 establishments in New York (state) 1881 sculptures David Farragut Bronze sculptures in New York City Busts in New York City Flatiron District Granite sculptures in New York City Monuments and memorials in Manhattan Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan Sculptures by Augustus Saint-Gaudens Sculptures of men in New York City Sculptures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Sculptures of women in New York City Statues in New York City