The bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus stands about 10 feet tall atop a 10 foot tall red granite base. This sculpture is centered between two permanent outdoor benches mounted in front of a granite lined inset (an exedra) just off the sidewalk on the east side of the Minnesota State Capitol building. Columbus is facing eastward, looking toward the Minnesota Judicial Center and the Minnesota Supreme Court buildings across the street. He is dressed in the classic dressings of the 1400s, with a long embroidered coat covering a plainer knee-length robe. He wears a large emblomized necklace hanging down his chest. His robe is held tight around his waist by the belt holding a long sword on his proper left side. His proper left hand holds a large folded document, probably representing a nautical chart. His proper right arm and hand are held outward from his side but point downward. His legs are bare but his feet are in ankle high shoes. Around his legs and behind him are nautical symbols of coastal plants, anchor, rope, and chains. The red granite base is embellished with carvings of sea shells and fish around the top edges. On the right and left sides of the base are eagles with spread wings standing on world globe-shaped spheres. On either side of the monument are long granite benches backed by granite walls that form an area beside the statue that allow visitors to stand or sit nearby and read the encriptions on the walls and the front of the base.
The front of the base has engraved text below an engraving of a sailing Tall ship. Below this engraved text is a mounted bronze plaque added later in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Columbus. The engraving and the plaque read as follows:
(original engraving)
"To
Christopher
Columbus
Discoverer
of America"
(mounted bronze plaque)
"This plaque is placed to commemorate the
500th anniversary of the voyages of
Christopher Columbus. His dedication and
unyeilding committment initiated the merging
of the cultures of the Old and the New
Worlds; thereby changing forever the course
and history of mankind.
Statue dedicated
Oct 12, 1931
Restoration and Preservation Project
1992
Columbus Memorial Association of St. Paul."
The immediate seating area that extends out on the sides from the statue has engraved text carved into the red granite wall backing the benches. The test reads from left to right as follows:
"Erected by the people of Minnesota under the auspices
of the Columbus Memorial Association
from last will of Columbus
siendo yo nacido en Genova
as a native of Genova"
At least 520 years have passed since the 1492 landing of Columbus on or near the island of Hispaniola, now called Haiti. Christopher Columbus was a complex man, like many world leaders. He had his distractors and his human weaknesses, but he also had determination and a strong will to succeed in those causes he felt driven to pursue. Finding an over-water route to India was one of his goals in life and after trying to find funding, he finally was sponsored by the King and Queen of Spain. Given three ships, Columbus navigated across the Atlantic Ocean to land on what he thought was India but in fact was some of the Caribbean Islands. Nonetheless, he was able to return to Spain with unusual foods native to the Americas, indigenous people from the islands he found, and eventually with gold extracted by slave laborers. He was made Admiral of the Oceans and made governor over the lands he discovered. His four trips to the Americas paved the way for a multitude of other explorers to begin settling what are now North America, Central America, and South America. Although Christopher Columbus was not historically the first discoverer of America, he was the one history has made famous for it.
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