Spiritualized Life - Jacksonville, FL - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

Memorial Park, where this art is located, is an Olmsted-designed park. The sculptor, Charles Adrian Pillars (1870-1937), was a local resident of Jacksonville for 26 years and is also known for creating the State of Florida’s two statues that reside in National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The following description of the sculpture is from the Smithsonian Art Inventory:

"A sculpture in which six youthful figures appear to be emerging from a swirling globe-shaped mass. The figures are nude and are positioned on a diagonal encircling the globe. Atop the globe is a standing male nude with wings. His proper left arm is stretched out to the side. His proper right arm is stretched up above his head and he holds a branch in his proper right hand. He wears a wreath on his head and is sleek and youthful. The sculpture is in the center of a polygonal concrete basin with spiral ridges converging in the center. Two steps lead from the concrete and brick plaza to the basin."

Four bronze plaques are attached to the basin with the following inscriptions:

FRONT:

In memoriam
Dedicated to the citizens of Florida
Who made the supreme sacrifice in the World War
1914-1918

RIGHT SIDE:

Spiritualized Life
Symbolized by the winged figure of youth
Rises triumphant from the swirl of war's chaos which engulfs humanity
and faces the future courageously

LEFT SIDE:

Completed and conveyed
To the city of Jacksonville, Florida
AD 1924

BACK:

Erected in gratitude
By the citizens of Duval County, Florida

TITLE: Spiritualized Life ARTIST(S): Charles Adrian Pillars DATE: 1924. Dedicated Dec. 25, 1924. MEDIUM: Bronze on concrete base. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS FL000018 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Memorial Park, 1600 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida 32204 DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The Art Inventory states that one of the four plaques is inscribed as follows: "Hereon reposes an/Indelible record of the/Twelve hundred and twenty/Names of those to whom/This memorial/Was reverently dedicated/On Christmas Day 1924". However, this plaque is no longer there and has been replaced with one that reads: "Spiritualized Life/Symbolized by the winged figure of youth/Rises triumphant from the swirl of war's chaos which engulfs humanity/and faces the future courageously

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