Rufus King, Albany's Moses of Banking - Albany, NY
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neoc1
N 42° 39.299 W 073° 46.210
18T E 600801 N 4723235
The Rufus King Memorial Fountain in Washington Park, Albany, NY, has an heroic sculpture of Moses at the top.
Waymark Code: WM11PX2
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 11/29/2019
Views: 1
Upon his death in 1878, Henry L. Rufus left $20,000 to be build a public memorial in Washington Park to his father, Rufus L. King, a wealthy banker and merchant. The result was the spectacular King Memorial Fountain, often called the Moses Fountain.
A bronze plaque set at ground level in front of the fountain is inscribed:
THIS FOUNTAIN WAS ERECTED
BY
HENRY L. KING
IN MEMORY OF HIS FATHER
RUFUS H. KING
1893
J. MASSEY RHIND
SCULPTOR
Moses is the major religious figure in the Jewish Bible - the Christian Old Testament. The leader of the Jewish people, he delivered the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt, led them through the Sinai, delivered the ten commandments and is credited with being the author of the Torah - the first five books of the Old Testament. He is revered by three major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as a major prophet.
The tableau depicts the biblical account of Moses upon the rock in Horeb. Moses has his staff raised and water flows down from four sides of the rock into a circular basin below.
Below Moses, on the rock, are four figures: a young woman is holding a water jug, a bearded young man has a sword on his left side and a shield on his left forearm, a bearded old man holds a staff in his left hand, and a mother is feeding her child.
God talks to Moses in Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
The sculptor that was chosen was the relatively unknown, John Massey Rhind of New York City. He completed the work in 1893 and went on to an illustrious as a sculptor.