Orpheus - Baltimore, Maryland
Posted by: 
flyingmoose
N 39° 15.850 W 076° 34.929
18S E 363506 N 4347285
Located south of the entrance at Fort McHenry.
Waymark Code: WM14C3E
Location: Maryland, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2021
Views: 3
Orpheus is a musician, poet and prophet in Ancient Greek Mythology. His known skill is the ability to charm all living things. He has been referenced in countless forms of art and popular culture. The reason he was selected as the basis for the monument is because Francis Scott Key wrote the National Anthem while on a boat looking at the battle of North Point (during the war of 1812) at Fort McHenry.
While the statue has used multiple names over its life, the National Park Service recognizes it as "Orpheus." Most likely due to the other Francis Scott Key Monument in downtown Baltimore.
Information taken from the Smithsonian Art Inventory Catalog
Title: Francis Scott Key Monument, (sculpture)
Other Titles: Key Monument (sculpture), Orpheus (sculpture)
Medium: Sculpture: bronze; Base: marble.
Dimensions: Sculpture: approx. H. 24 ft.; Base: approx. H. 15 ft. x Diam. 30 ft.
Inscription: CHARLES H. NIEHAUS / FRANCIS SCOTT KEY/ BORN 1780 DIED 1843/ TO FRANCIS SCOTT KEY/ AUTHOR OF THE/ STAR SPANGLED BANNER/ AND TO THE SOLDIERS AND/ SAILORS WHO TOOK PART/ IN THE BATTLE NORTH/ POINT AND DEFENSE/ OF FORT McHENRY IN THE/ WAR OF 1812 signed
Description: The monument consists of a standing nude figure of Orpheus, the Greek hero of music and poetry, playing a five-stringed tortoiseshell lyre. He holds the lyre in his proper left arm and reaches over with his proper right hand to play the instrument. The sculpture sits on a circular base adorned with a frieze depicting Francis Scott Key and the muses celebrating the Army and the Navy.