''Christopher Columbus'', or simply ''Columbus'', is a 1955 sculpture by

Edoardo Alfieri Edoardo Alfieri (1913 in Foggia, Italy – 1998 in Sanremo, Italy) was an Italian sculptor. Although he was born at Foggia in southern Italy, his family was of Piemontese origin and soon moved to Genoa, where he spent his childhood. He s ...

, originally installed outside

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, in the United States. The statue was unveiled in 1955, celebrating

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

's voyages to the New World. It was removed in July 2020, in light of the explorer's abusive relationship with indigenous Americans.

Description

The statue rested on and was the central feature of the Portman Plaza on the south side of City Hall adjoining West Broad Street. The bronze alloy sculpture depicts

wearing a cloak and holding a rolled document. The statue measures approximately 22 × 7.75 × 5.75 ft (6.7 × 2.36 × 1.75 m) and weighs approximately 3 tons. It rested on a square stone base that measures approximately 6³ ft. A bronze plaque is infixed on the base.

History

Cast at the Micheluccio Foundry in

Pistoia, Italy Pistoia (, is a city and '' comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a ty ...

, the statue was a gift of the citizens of

Genoa, Italy Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

to the citizens of Columbus. It was transported from Italy to the United States aboard the Italian ocean liner SS ''Cristoforo Colombo''. The statue was uncrated and erected in Columbus on October 10, 1955, and dedicated on October 12, 1955, during the city's

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492. ...

celebration. As the statue was undergoing repair work in 1979, a time capsule in the form of a copper box was discovered. It contained, among other items, a railroad bill of lading for shipment of the statue. The statue was surveyed by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in 1992.

Removal

Amid the

removal of Confederate monuments and memorials More than 100 monuments and memorials to the Confederate States of America (CSA; the Confederacy) and associated figures have been removed, all but five since 2015. Some have been removed by state and local governments; others have been torn do ...

beginning in 2015, about 150 protesters rallied at the statue in August 2017. The protests aimed to have the statue removed, given Christopher Columbus's violence and enslavement of Native Americans. The 2020 George Floyd protests in Columbus renewed calls to remove the statue, with petitions circulating to also remove other statues of the explorer and to rename the city. The statue's removal was announced on June 18, with Columbus mayor Andrew Ginther announcing plans for a work of art that better represents the people of Columbus. The statue had been vandalized one day prior, with the word "rapist" written across the statue's base. The Columbus Piave Club, representing the Italian-Americans who facilitated the statue's installation there, opposed the move, and called for it to either stay or be returned to them. The club stated it had celebrated the anniversary of its unveiling every year by the statue, since 1955. A city resident filed a lawsuit urging for a court order to stop the statue's removal, in hope that a decision is made by the Columbus City Council after a public hearing. The Columbus Art Commission, which oversees the city's public art, voted unanimously to approve the statue's removal on June 24. The statue was removed and stored on July 1, without a public hearing, as Mayor Ginther was able to order it. The art commission announced in 2020 there will be public input into the work that replaces it, and who the artist will be.

References

External links

* {{Public art in Columbus, Ohio 1955 establishments in Ohio 1955 sculptures Bronze sculptures in Ohio Monuments and memorials in Ohio Monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests Monuments and memorials to Christopher Columbus Outdoor sculptures in Columbus, Ohio Sculptures of men in Ohio Statues in Columbus, Ohio Columbus City Hall Vandalized works of art in Ohio Statues removed in 2020

Description

History

Removal

See also

References

External links