Statue of John Carroll depicts John Carroll
Bishop John Carroll is a statue by the sculptor Jerome Connor commemorating Archbishop John Carroll, the founder of Georgetown University and the first Catholic bishop in the United States. Located in front of Healy Hall, on university's campus in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the statue consists of a bronze sculpture of Carroll on top of a granite pedestal.
The monument rises more than 14 feet (4.3 m) in height, and was unveiled in 1912 with an elaborate three-day ceremony. Among the thousands of people in attendance were dignitaries including bishops and high-ranking clergy; members of Congress; judges, including the Chief Justice; the Attorney General; and distinguished alumni. The statue has been the subject of student frivolities over the years, including a still current tradition of sitting in the archbishop's lap.Description
Bishop John Carroll is positioned on a circular lawn between Healy Hall and the university's front gates, an area known as Healy Circle. It was created by Irish sculptor Jerome Connor who  trained as a stone carver.
The bronze sculpture depicts John Carroll, seated in a chair and resting his hands on its arms as he gazes slightly to his right, toward the front gates and out onto the Potomac River and downtown Washington. His lips are pressed together, and he appears to be in a moment of thought. In his right hand is a book, in which his index finger is inserted to mark a page. Carroll is dressed in Jesuit ecclesiastical attire, which sprawls over the arms and across the back of the chair. His hair is brushed away from his face and reaches down to his collar. Beneath his chair is a stack of books, a decoration that was inspired by the books beneath the chair of the John Harvard statue at Harvard University, on which Bishop John Carroll was modeled. The bronze sculpture portion of the statue measures 82 inches (210 cm) long by 41 inches (100 cm) wide by 70 inches (180 cm) tall.The sculpture rests on a plinth of North Carolina granite, which measures 57 inches (140 cm) long by 70 inches (180 cm) wide by 102 inches (260 cm) tall. This brings the overall dimensions of the statue to 11 feet 7 inches (3.53 m) long, 9 feet 3 inches (2.82 m) wide, and 14 feet 4 inches (4.37 m) tall. An inscription on the front of the base reads: "JOHN CARROLL" and beneath it, "FOVNDER", while the rear contains the words "PRIEST" and beneath it, "PATRIOT PRELATE". On the right-hand side of the sculpture, near the base, is the artist's signature and date of completion: "Jerome Conner – 1912".