Friday, 24 April 2009

• Fine Art Friday:Sculpture

  

  In honor of Confederate Memorial Day which occurs this coming Monday, April 27th, I commend to your attention this fine sculpture.

  The Sleeping Lion of the Confederacy guards the graves of the unknown soldiers at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.  Last Fall I took this photograph when a friend and I took a walking tour through this historic site. There is a large section devoted to the Confederate Dead, approximately 6900 including 3000 unknown, plus some Union soldiers.  Through much of of The War, Atlanta hospitals overflowed with men wounded in battles to the north.  The largest cluster of wartime hospitals was within half a mile of this cemetery.  As fighting moved closer to Atlanta and deaths mounted, land adjacent to the Cemetery was secured as a burial ground

  The sculptor, Thomas M. Brady (1849 - 1907) of Canton, Georgia (my current hometown!) was both artist and politician. In the 1890s, he was commissioned by the Atlanta Ladies Memorial Association to create this monument. Made of Georgia marble and based on the Swiss sculpture "The Lion of Lucerne," Brady designed and sculpted the "Lion of Atlanta".  First he was a councilman before becoming Canton's mayor in the early 1900s. He died after suffering a stroke in 1907 and is buried in River View Cemetery still in downtown Canton.

  For the nameless soldiers, the dying lion rests on the flag they followed and “guards their dust,” in the words of a commemorative poem.

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  Currently The Historic Oakland Cemetery of Atlanta: Speaking Stones By Cathy J. Kaemmerlen see related

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