Show aw 4 i ihl i COLUMBUS IN STATUARY christopher HRISTO PHER COLUM BUS was a latin whether he be consid ered as a native of italy where undoubtedly he spent his early boy hood or serving under the nag flag of portugal where his maturing manhood years pre pared his tor for the in comparable triumphs he secured for the home of bis his final adoption spain latin america too was the area over which his discoveries we e ex tended for it is a tact fact that he had no knowledge of the existence of the vast continent to the north of the caribbean sea and the west india islands he had been to england and at one time in despair had ap plied to the court of england to help him in his great ambition but his experience and his tame fame were latin perhaps on this account the name of columbus Is incorporated more prominently in the nomenclature of latin america than in that of anglo saxon axon america the republic of colombia bears witness to the honor with which he wash wa held from the beginnings of independence in the western world today the onetime one time insignificant little port in panama colon at the northern entrance to the canal indicates another att tempt 0 o perpetuate the name of columbus in ln a gw geographical graphical way other coun tries have districts or rivers public parks and theaters with the name of colon and it would seem to be in spanish as its equivalent colombo in portuguese a mark of affection as well as of honor tor for the discoverer of america rhe united states has given his name to the district of columbia as boon soon as the founders of this he lie could consider designations apart from those inherited from provincial days As the country grew in area towns were named columbus and the designation of the federal district which was to be the seat of govern ment shows that the discoverer was not forgotten on the that once might have been his perhaps however the greatest compliment to the memory of columbus is that im plied in the poetical appellation columbia the allegorical name given to the united states there can be no denying dening the tact fact that the recognition of the great achievement of the admiral has been tardy it Is well viell known however that often the delayed judgment of history alone awards to grea great t men the honor they deserved we a are all it I 1 so familiar with the story of colum bus as it has been handed down to 0 L aa w 14 ZT W sy us that there Is no need here to recount the many injustices which be he suffered at the hands of his bontem doralies por Dor aries the salient fact that he was shorn of his honors and returned laden with chains proves conclusively the cruel contempt with which the tearless fearless navigator was treated in bis his own day time rectifies many mis judgments and it has done so in the case of the discoverer of america the wonder of bis his achievement is universally recognized and the worlds both old and new have testified in many monuments to the respect and honor in which they hold columbus the custom of preparing in stone so that the names and achieve ments of a nation nations s heroes may be passed on to posterity finds hta or aigin in most ancient times it Is but natural that this custom should haye have been followed in the case of colum bus today we find statues erected to the discoverer in italy spain and france and in nearly all of the countries of the new world orld at genoa which city claims the honor of being the birthplace of co lumbus there has been erected avery a very magnificent statue which overlooks the bay it was completed and dedi bated on november Noi ember 9 1862 although the foundation had been laid as tar far back as 1846 the inscription it bears is to christopher columbus the fatherland spain which country failed the genoese during his life time has been more generous to his memory and here are many shafts raised to record the greatness ol 01 his deed perhaps the noblest monument yet erected to the of columbus la is that which stands in barcelona it was in this city that king ferdinand and his consort isabella received the admiral on the return from his first voyage it Is most appropriate situation much care was tal en I 1 1 in I the selection of the design of th the barcelona monument and the result is artistic in every sly sense use of the vi AN ord in the ne v world nearly every country has testified in recognition of the deed of columbus by the arec tion of some character of monument from the magnificent effigy which graces the center of columbus circle in new york to the simple shaft yi I 1 j wi t fa i the firt discoverer it Is said to tie be the original monument erected on this continent to commemorate the achievement of columbus it is unfortunate that there Is no contemporaneous painting or likeness of columbus extant for this reason artists who have attempted to reproduce his lineaments in marble have been at a great disadvantage As i matter of tact fact the accepted likeness of the admiral is after the man et er of being an idealistic con caption all ali are familiar with the strong clean shaven face from which deep expressive eyes look out under a broad brow the deep lines from the nose to the corners of the mouth are also characteristic of the popular portraits of columbus who would w recognize the discoverer depicted with a gray beard I 1 let et it Is more than probable that he wore one when he planted the banner of 0 spain on the shores of the new world the few descriptions of the person al appearance of the admiral which we me have from those who knew him well tell us he was a man of sturdy stature rather above the average height of a very ruddy complexion with freckles and red hair when he was young the latter soon turned white which was also the color of laiq 11 beard beards w were ere the fashion of his day in spain and it Is easy to 1 clean shaven in effigy so it Is with the new columbus statue unveiled in washington on june 8 this marks the first great memorial which the united states government has erect ed tt tc christopher columbus chere has long been a feeling that this country has not had a really worthy monument to the man who Is primarily responsible for or the exist ence of the nat on the feeling took concrete shape when in 1 representative jamea james A goulden of new york introduced a bill appropriating the sum of to be used for a columbus memo rial congress passed the bill and it was signed in 1907 by president roosevelt the design Is a combination ot of fountain shaft and statue the fountain Is semi circular 70 feet wide and 65 feet from front to rear the balustrade which hall half en circles it bears the effay of a heroic lion at either extremity the salient feature of the memorial Is a asplen did stone shaft surmounted by a globe before this shaft which rises in the center of the fountain circle la is a statue of columbus rhe globe which surmounts the shaft indicates the contribution the discovery of columbus was to the science of geography this globe is supported by four massive eagles lei I 1 i I 1 axll t A 1 va a vj ft A 4 f comm 11 I 1 A vr afi which marks the spot of the sup posed first landing on Wat lings island we find a great number of statues erected in honor of the dis coverer even the have dona done honor to the navigator at nassau in the bahama islands and at trinidad and the people ot of santo domingo have also raised splendid bonu ments while in cuba where in the cathedral at havana the bones of columbus were so long interred there are a great many represents presenta re eions of Ws this historic figure the statue which Is now placed in the presidents palace havana Is an ar piece of work but the most striking effigy of all in cuba is vail vall mit Janas s sculpture depicting colum bus in chains it Is to be regretted that this beautiful work Is only a clay model the representation Is that of columbus in his old age he Is seated on a coil of rope on the deck of the ship which Is carrying him to spain he reclines against a capstan his fettered hands held before him the artist has caught a striking expression of resignation combined with melancholy the work Is a masterpiece of sentiment and ex pres slon another historical group Is that which was presented by empress eu genie of france to the republic ot of colombia it now stands at cristo bal the canal can al zone throughout latin america the ven aeration for col imbus is universal and we find his memory honored in cities of mexico colombia peru chile and other pan american states it is curious to note that it was also a latin a frenchman who erected the first monument in the united states in honor of the achieve ment of columbus in baltimore there still stands a monument erect ed over a century ago in honor ot of believe that sailors wore them for protection the representations which we see today of columbus can nearly all be traced back to an engraving called the paulus hovius cut which was made from a painting that has been lost even the lost I 1 la inting was not an original Il leness eness for it was painted on what the lawyers would call hearsay evidence but as it was executed some time in the early years of the sixteenth century the features may be taken as fairly cor in this cut columbus Colu rubus Is drawn without a beard thus he is always with outstretched wingo wing upon it in high relief are cut the ical features of the new world at either side of the shaft there appear figures portraying the sculptor sculptors s con caption of cepres representative tentative enta tive types of the new and old world the figure of 0 an american Amei ican indian energetic in pose one hand reaching over his shoulder and grasping an arrow from a quiver represents the new world while the statue of a patriarchal caucasian of heroic proportions and thoughtful mien typifies the old world on the mace at the hear of the shaft Is placed a medallion depre benting ferdinand and isabella of spain |