Confederate leaders and their horses carved into the side of the largest exposed piece of granite in the world give renewed meaning to memorial days and monuments.

Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park is home to this fine expression of honor.

This largest bas-relief in the world depicts three figures of the Confederate States of America:  Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis as well as their beloved horses:  Blackjack, Traveller, and Little Sorrel.  The entire carved surface of the Memorial Carving measures three acres, larger than a football field. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee’s elbow, which is 12 feet to the mountain’s surface. 

First begun in 1916 the carving took 56 years and three sculptors to complete.  Not without its own setbacks this public artwork fits well into the remarks of art professor, Michael Lewis, PhD, who addressed the issue of the decline in America’s monuments and memorials.  Read his insightful remarks (link) delivered earlier this Spring at Hillsdale College’s Center for Constitutional Study and Citizenship in Washington, DC.  Here are a few clips ~

As traditionally understood, a monument is the expression of a single powerful idea in a single emphatic form, in colossal scale and in permanent materials, made to serve civic life.

It is because of their ability to transcend time by connecting to primal human activities—passage, gathering, shelter—that the best monuments never look dated.

Monuments and memorials today are discursive, sentimental, addicted to narrative literalism, and asking to be judged on good intentions rather than visual coherence.  

As you read Lewis’s remarks, don’t miss the mentions of Frederick Hart and Emily Post, two of my favorite reference people.

I think Lewis would approve of our Memorial Monument.

What monument or memorial in your area fits the bill?