Christopher Columbus - Columbus, OH - Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The grounds of the Ohio Statehouse where this statue is located are well worth a visit if you're ever in Columbus, Ohio. Lots of impressive statuary to see here including this nice one of Christopher Columbus, for whom the city of Columbus, Ohio, was named.

Smithsonian Inventory Description: "Standing figure of Christopher Columbus holding a globe in his proper left hand. On his proper left is a small pedestal of pink granite on which is a globe with a dove atop it. The sculpture is mounted on a granite base and is part of a fountain. Water runs down the base, but does not come into contact with the sculpture. In 1991, a new base and fountain were added. Different inscriptions and dates appear on each of the 4 sides of the fountain base. The connecting corner sections on the base are etched with outlines of inventions, such as the airplane, phonograph, telephone, etc. In a continuous circle around the fountain's base is etched the word: DISCOVERY."

From the Ohio Statehouse website:

"The rendering of the sea faring explorer who is the namesake of Ohio's capitol city has a history shrouded in mystery and speculation as the man it depicts. Though historians can not provide definitive information about Columbus' birth date, nationality or physical description, the fact that he made a number of voyages to what would be called the New World is not in question. As the 400th anniversary of Columbus' first voyage approached in 1892 many Americans sought ways to recognize what many felt was the beginning of the nation's history.

One Columbus resident, Monsignor Joseph Jessings went so far as to have a statue of the Italian explorer created and put on display on the grounds of the Catholic Seminary he had founded. When the Pontifical College Josephenium left its near Eastside location for a larger campus north of the city in 1932, the statue was given to the state, and has been a fixture on the grounds of the Statehouse ever since. The piece is crafted of hammered copper plates joined together with rivets, and was created in Salem Ohio in the workshops of the W.H. Mullins company, who did a large volume of business in this type of hollow metal sculptures that were inexpensive, quick to make and often more detailed than stone. The Mullins company produced at least four other Columbus statues such as this one, likely basing the design on work produced by the well known American sculpture Augustus St. Gaudens.

The base upon which the statue is mounted was created in 1992, the five hundredth anniversary of Columbus' voyage. Rededicated on Columbus Day of that year, the ceremonies were attended by the mayor of Columbus, Governor of the state of Ohio, as well as the mayor and governor of Genoa, Liguria, the Italian city and state that Columbus is reputed to be from."

TITLE: Christopher Columbus ARTIST(S): Alfonso Pelzer DATE: ca. 1890-1892. MEDIUM: Sheet copper on a Ligurian granite base. CONTROL NUMBER: IAS OH000039 Direct Link to the Individual Listing in the Smithsonian Art Inventory: [Web Link] PHYSICAL LOCATION: Located at the Ohio Statehouse, State & High Streets, southwest corner of grounds, Columbus, Ohio. DIFFERENCES NOTED BETWEEN THE INVENTORY LISTING AND YOUR OBSERVATIONS AND RESEARCH: The Smithsonian Inventory description for this statue states that a new base was added in 1991. However, the Ohio Statehouse website says the new base was added in 1992 (http://www.ohiostatehouse.org/Education/CapitolSquare/ChristopherColumbusDiscoveryPlaza.aspx).

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