BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Union Station -- Columbus Fountain

DC -- Union Station -- Columbus Fountain:

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Wikipedia Description: Columbus Fountain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Columbus Fountain also known as the Columbus Memorial is a public artwork by American sculptor Lorado Taft, located at Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States. A centerpiece of Columbus Circle, Columbus Fountain serves as a tribute to the explorer Christopher Columbus. The unveiling in 1912 was celebrated all over Washington, DC over the course of three days with parades, concerts and fireworks gathering tens of thousands of people from all over the world.

Description

Columbus Fountain is a semicircular double-basin fountain with a shaft (h. 45 ft.) in the center. The front of the shaft bears a full-length portrait of Christopher Columbus (approx. h. 15 ft.) wearing a mantle, staring forward with his hands folded in front of him. Beneath him is a ship prow that features a winged figurehead that represents the observation of discovery. A globe, representing the Western hemisphere, is on top of the shaft with four eagles on each corner connected by garland. The left and right sides of the shaft have two male figures decorating them. The right side figure is an elderly man, representing the Old World, and on the left side is a figure of a Native American, representing the New World. The back of the shaft has a low-relief medallion (approx. d. 3 ft.) with images of Ferdinand & Isabella. Two lions (approx. h. 5 ft.), placed away from the base, guard the left and right side of the fountain.

The back of the shaft is inscribed:

TO
THE MEMORY OF
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
WHOSE HIGH FAITH
AND
INDOMITABLE COURAGE
GAVE TO MANKIND
A NEW WORLD
BORN MCDXXXVI
DIED MDIV

The fountain sits in the center of the Columbus traffic circle in front of Union Station.

Congressional legislation

A very different fountain was originally planned for the circle in front of Union Station. But lobbying began in 1906 for a memorial by the Knights of Columbus. The location was not specified at the time.

On March 4, 1907, at 11:00 am, the 59th United States Congress approved HR 13304: That there shall be erected in the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, a suitable memorial to the memory of Christopher Columbus.

Section 2 provided the creation of a Commission shall be created consisting of:

the chairman of the Senate committee on the Library of the Fifty-ninth Congress
the chairman of the Committee on the Library of the House of Representatives of the Fifty-ninth Congress
the Secretary of State (Elihu Root)
the Secretary of War (William H. Taft)
the Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus

The powers of the commission would include the full authority to select a site and a suitable design and to contract for and superintend the construction of [the] said memorial.

Section 3 provided the Commission $100,000 from the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated.

Designing the fountain

In May 1907 a commission was formed for the memorial fountain headed by prominent members of the Senate, Secretary of State Elihu Root and Secretary of War William H. Taft (who was elected President of the United-States the following year) which served as committee chairman. Upon agreeing on the location for the fountain, a call for designs was requested by artists from America, Italy and Spain. The reason for the three countries stemmed from the committee idea that "if it should be from the hand of an American, the land which Columbus gave to the world; from an Italian, the land which gave Columbus to the world, or from Spain, the land which made Columbus's achievement possible."

On March 20, 1908, details of the general scheme proposed by Architect Daniel Burnham was approved by the commission. The Evening Star enumerates the exacts details of the design:

The fountain will be placed directly in front of Union station at the juncture of Delaware and Massachusetts avenues. It will be semi-circular in form, with an inner and an outer basin, having an extreme width of 64 feet. A stone column or shaft about 10 feet in height, surmounted with a globe representing the world, is the principal feature of the rear of the fountain and is intended to serve as a background for statue of Columbus standing at the bow of a Spanish caravel similar in general design to the picturesque craft that first brought him to America. The uprearing prow of the ship, with its figure of Columbus, stands on the line of Delaware Avenue and faces the National Capitol. Two recumbent lions are placed on the walls of the fountain, one at the east and the other at the west side and there are other architectural and artistic details embodied in the general scheme.
The Columbian Fountain, Chicago, 1893

It was influenced by a fountain designed by Frederick MacMonnies that was displayed at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. This work depicted a figure of Columbia sitting on a ship with a figure of Fame standing on a ship prow holding a trumpet and a representational figure of Time dominating the stern.

Six sculptors, in particular, were to be invited to this competition by the Committee:

* For Spain: Augustin Querol
* For Italy: Augustus Revolta and Cesare Zoccni
* For the United States: Frederick W. MacMonnies, Daniel C. French and Lorado Taft (a distant cousin of the Committee Chairman in the Taft family).

The competition was to remain open to other sculptors and all submissions were to be sent by the Committee before or on December 1, 1908. The second and third best designers would get $500 each while the first prize would receive $20,000. Frederick W. MacMonnies and Daniel C. French informed the Committee they would be unable to participate as they had other engagements at the time. In all, twenty sculptors submitted proposals for the fountain including: Henri Cronier, Philip Martiny, Charles Keck, Augustus Lukeman, Alfred Sauder, Henry Hering, Charles J. Pike, Pierre Feitu, Leo Lentelli, John C. Hardy, John K. Daniels, Hans Schuler, Giuseppi Donato, J. Otto Schweizer, V.R. Hoxie, Augustin Querol, Louis Weingartner and Lorado Taft.

The models received were put on display in December 1908 in the fifth-floor corridor of the State, War and Navy Departement Building. They were screened until the Committee was ready to review all the proposals. The identities of the artists who had responded were also withheld from the public. By that time, the Committee was composed of Senator George P. Wetmore of Rhode Island, James McCleary of Minnesota, Secretary of State Elihu Root, Secretary of War Luke E. Wright, and Edward L. Hearn, Supreme Knight of the Order of the Knights of Columbus. W. R. Pedigo was the secretary and Col. Charles S. Broniwell. US Army was the executive and disbursing officer. William H. Taft was no longer on the committee as he had resigned as Secretary of War on June 30 to devote himself to his campaign to become the 27th President of the United States.

On February 13, 1909, it was decided that the public would be able to view the models prior to the determination of the winner. The reception of the models by the press was poor. The main complaint was with the Committee and not the artists. The artists had very limited artistic freedom considering the very precise parameters given by the committee to be incorporated in the fountain and it was admirable that they had been able to provide so many different expressions to the status of Christopher Columbus.

On February 27, 1909, the Committee announced the winner of the competition. Lorado Taft was awarded the honor of making the statue of Columbus as well as all the other sculptures surrounding it and $20,000. The second place was given to Philip Martigny and the third place to Augustin Quero, each receiving $500. The remaining of the funds allocated to this project ($79,000) were to be used to provide all the materials (bronze and granite) as well as the labor for carvings, casting, transportation to the site and setting the memorial in place. The newspapers did not fail to mention that the winner was a cousin of the President-elect William H. Taft.

Bids for the construction of the fountain and base were open from June 20, 1911 to July 28, 1911. The ad called for "sealed proposals for stonework (granite or marble) for foundations, concrete piles, masonry, etc., and for plumbing and sewers" to be submitted to the committee before midnight on July 28. 1911. The envelopes would be opened publicly. The ad ran in local newspapers from June 26, 1911 to June 29, 1911 as well as on July 24 and 25, 1911. The contract was awarded to J. C. Richardson & Son of New York. The bid was for $21,854 for everything excluding the carvings.

Architect Edward Wilmann of D. H. Burnham & Company was put in charge of the construction of the piece.

Installation and dedication

On October 31, 1911 construction, which was supervised by A. W. Taylor of J.C. Robinson & Son, began and the piece was installed from March–June 1912.

There was great excitement in anticipation of the upcoming unveiling. A committee was formed to organize the celebration with various subcommittees to organize the various events organized for Friday, June 7, 1912 through Sunday, June 9, 1912. ...
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