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Statue of The Republic – by Daniel Chester French [sculptor] and Henry Bacon [architect].

Location: Jackson Park
at the intersection of Hayes & Richards Drives.

Year Built: 1918.

Description: 24-foot-high gilded bronze.

Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: June 4, 2003.

Commissioned by the B.F.Ferguson Monument Fund,
to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition held in Chicago and the Illinois statehood centennial..

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The Republic at Jackson Park is actually a  one-third reproduction of the original 65-foot-high sculpture, which dominated the World’s Columbian Exposition’s Court of Honor. Both the earlier sculpture and its later reproduction were both the work of Daniel Chester French.

The figure has classical drapery and carries symbolic ornaments..  a laurel wreath on the head, a shield with eagle, in her right hand is a globe with an eagle hovering over, and in her left hand is a lance crowned by a Phrygian cap -a sign of the French revolution. The intent was to express the republic of the United States and its form of government.

 

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Henry Bacon’s base is inscribed on both the front and the back.

The front reads..
The Republic
To commemorate the
World’s Columbian Exposition
MDCCCXCIII.

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The back of the base contains a more detailed inscription..

The World’s Columbian Exposition.
Authorized by the Act of Congress
And Generously Participated in
By the Nations of The Earth
Was held here in 1893 to celebrate
The Discovery of America
On this site stood the Administration Building..

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RELATED LINKS

Public Art in Chicago South & University of Chicago..click here..
Public Art in Chicago South.. click here..
Public Art by Location.. click here..

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