Benutzer:HybridExplorer/Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch

Der Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch ist ein Triumphbogen im New Yorker Stadtteil Brooklyn. Es ist den "Verteidigern der Union, 1861–1865", also der Union Army während der Zeit des Bürgerkriegs gewidmet. Er steht am südlichen Rand einer Verkehrsinsel auf der Grand Army Plaza.

Standort

1867 eröffnete der Prospect Park, wo ca. 100 Jahre zuvor die Schlacht von Long Island stattfand. Die Planungen für den Kreisverkehr stammen von den Landschaftsarchitekten Frederick Law Olmsted und Calvert Vaux. Die Grand Army Plaza ist ein großer Kreisverkehr und wurde als Eingangssituation für den Prospect Park geplant. Mehrere Brunnen und Denkmäler wurden hier errichtet. 1889 entschied sich der Gestaltungsausschuss, dem auch Vaux und Olmsted angehörten, für den Entwurf des Architekten John H. Duncan.

Gestaltung

On August 6, 1889, William R. Ware and Charles B. Atwood, who had been appointed by the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Commission, selected John H. Duncan's design for the arch from 36 designs submitted the previous year.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, in collaboration with architect Stanford White, built the arch after two-and-a-half months of site preparation; William Tecumseh Sherman was the speaker at the 1889 cornerstone, and President Grover Cleveland led the 1892 unveiling.

The McKim, Mead and White firm recommended the bronze statues for the City Beautiful movement, and Park Commissioner Frank Squire engaged Frederick MacMonnies in 1894 to design the three bronze sculptural groupings. The interior arch faces have equestrian bas-reliefs of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grantsculpted by William Rudolf O'Donovan (men) and Thomas Eakins (horses), that were added in 1895. Also added in 1895 by sculptor Frederick MacMonniesare the Army and Navy sculptures and the allegorical crowning sculpture. This sculpture depicts the winged goddess of victory, following victorious combat (the Civil War) with instruments of war: sword, colors, flagstaff, and quadriga (the Union Army). Winged attendants are seen removing two of the four quadriga horses for peacetime use (postbellum recovery) while trumpeting the victory and freedom (Emancipation).

The arch was designated a landmark in 1973, and the crowning sculpture was restored after the chariot's figure fell out in 1976.