Monday, October 26, 2009

The Firemen's Monument located in Greenwood Cemetery (1887) was conceived by contractor-agent Charles A. Orleans (d. 1923), and constructed of Maine granite. New York sculptor Alexander Doyle (1857-1922), whose name graces the Society pages of many Daily Picayune issues, designed the Italian marble volunteer fireman statue that adorns the arched monument's center.

A reporter for the Daily Picayune reported 13 December 1887:

"Mr. Doyle has had such a wonderfully successful career, as far as statues and monuments are concerned, that he has little time to devote to ideal work. This is one of his big regrets as an artist, and he intends in the early future to abandon portraiture and monument shaping and create some works in which his imagination and genius will have more part."

Digital images of historic New Orleans newspaper articles may be accessed through Howard-Tilton Memorial Library's Databases of Historic Louisiana Newspapers, developed by Anthony DelRosario. The Southeastern Architectural Archive maintains some New Orleans City Engineer plans for cemeteries, including an 1894 ink on linen Survey for Cypress Grove Cemetery and the Firemen's Charitable Association Cemetery.

Image above: Firemen's Monument, Greenwood Cemetery, New Orleans, as photographed 22.10.2009 by K. Rylance.

2 comments:

Susanna Powers said...

Your photo is beautiful and scary. Susanna Powers

Keli Rylance said...

In honor of Halloween!