The Republican journal., 1885-09-17
The Grant Memorial.

" bIN vi y CIlON ICN CI ttlltl al. N. l..
Herald.
The Grant Memorial.
OPINIONS OF ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTS. THE
PARTIENON SUGGESTED AS A MODEL.
The North American Review for Sep
tember contains, under the caption
'Grant's Memorial; What shall it be n
the opinions Of eight gentlemen on the
subject and in brief they are as follows:
LAUNr THOMPSON.
As the monument is to be national,
and to serve the double purpose of
hUnoring the heros memory and pro
tecting his mortal part for future ages,
would suggest q mauSOleum, of Roman
or Grecian Doric architecture, solid and
simple, crowned with Il dome, surmount-
ed by an allegorical statue. Allowing a
sarcophagus, it should be massive, and
simple in design, of the most durable
material, and should be placed in a crypt,
open and visible from the floor of the
mortuary temple, 50 that the spectator
may look down upon it,; being, as it
We're, below the surface Of the EARTH and
yet exposed in such manner that wreath
of immortelles may always be laid upon
it. 1t is hardly necessary to add that
while the general design should be sim
pie, no materials should enter into its
construction or decorations except stone
and bronze. The two entrances might
be impressiycly guarded by colossal Jig
ures, representing the North, South,
East and West. | would further suggest
that an equestrian statue Of the hero be
placed on green sWard, circular in
shape, aJ proper distance from the west
front (SuppOsing the mauSoleum to face
east and West,) the statue looking west,
on pedestal Of such height that the
features could easily be recognized or
diScerned.
CULNERT VAUN.
The first thought should be to do
honor to his memory by erecting a
strictly truthful portrait statue, in bronze,
or marble, that can be easily and closely
scanned by every man and woman and
child. Having secured this sculptor's
masterpiece, the second thought would
naturally be to place it in shrine that,
by its artistic value, should satisfy the
taste and feeling Of every beholder.
believe, therefore, that, wherever erected,
the Grant memorial ought to have a
noble interior as we'll as a grand exterior;
that it should be designed to admit of
decoration with paintings and with stain
ed glass, and also give an opportunity for
the use of bronZeS and other metals ad-
mlttlng OF artistic treatment.
w. II. BEARD
This monument should be replete in
all its parts, though not crowded or over
done; should be full OF meaning i'll every
line and form from base to apex; it
should be simple, though full; pure,
grand, unique, though not strained, and
Indigenous to the soil In short, it should
be an epitome of the simply great char
acter it commentaries, as well as the
conditions and peculiarities of the c0un-
try and institutions of which our hero
was the OutgroWth.
KARL GERHARDT.
The basis of the conception of the pro
posed memorial to Grant of course must
be his life-his achievements. Shall it
be a single figure? That is portrait
only-it tells no story, or never more than
a single moment Of life. Shall it be an
equestrian figure The tradition of art
interprets such a statue to signify a
prince or soldier But it can tell nothing
more Now, Grants life was complex,
full Of great incidents worthy of enduring
remembrance, and his career was crowd
ed with his inspirations of the great acts
OF other great men. An adequate plan
of a monument, therefore, should provide
for the enduring commemoration of many
events in which other great soldiers and
great civilians took part. 1t should also
immortalze the heroism of the common
people from whom Grant sprang-as best
typified by the common soldier.
HENRY VAN BRUNT.
The monument should be simple and
not complex ; it should be great in size,
and lofty it should be adjusted careful
ly to the conditions of site it should be
approachable, and not surrounded by q
boundary fence by statues and bas-re-
liefs and inscriptions it should tell the
story of this great public life in language
which all may read by its retinements
of detail, its business of proportion its
careful balance of constructional idiom,
its suggestions of poetic fitness, it should
inspire and excite the beholder; predom-
inant, the figure Of our general should
appear equipped for war upon his horse,
exact in portraiture, without the theatri-
cal display, colossal, so that the true
personality shall be made familiar in its
best estate to our posterity.
OLIN l.. WARNER.
The monument should be grand
mausoleum, imposing from its simplicity
rather than it's elaboration distinguished
for its fine proportion and form, and pure
in style, however severe. 1t should have
an interior rich and impressive, the cen
trail object of which might be massive
and highly wrought sarcophagus of beau
tiful and enduring stone. The interior
should be accessible to the public at all
or at stated times Near the monument