Cyrus Edwin Dallin (November 22, 1861 – November 14, 1944) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

best known for his depictions of Native Americans. He created more than 260 works, including the ''Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere'' in Boston, Massachusetts; ''the Angel Moroni'' atop

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth templ ...

in Salt Lake City, Utah; and ''

Appeal to the Great Spirit ''Appeal to the Great Spirit'' is a 1908 equestrian statue by Cyrus Dallin, located in front of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It portrays a Native American on horseback facing skyward, his arms spread wide in a spiritual request to the Great S ...

'' (1908), at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He was also an accomplished painter and an Olympic

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

Biography

Dallin was born in Springville,

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

, the son of Thomas and Jane (Hamer) Dallin, both of whom had left

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church) before their marriage. At age 19, he moved to Boston to study sculpture with Truman Howe Bartlett. He studied in Paris, with

Henri Chapu Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work. Life and career Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...

and at the Académie Julian. In 1883, he entered a competition to sculpt an equestrian statue of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to a ...

for Boston, Massachusetts. He won the competition and received a contract, but six versions of his model were rejected. The fifth model was not accepted because of fundraising problems. The seventh version was accepted in 1939 and the full-size statue was unveiled in 1940. File:Paul Revere (870670168).jpg, Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere, (1940) North End, Boston, Massachusetts Dallin converted to

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

and initially turned down the offer to sculpt the angel Moroni for the spire of the LDS Church's

. He later accepted the commission and, after finishing the statue said, "My angel Moroni brought me nearer to God than anything I ever did."

Levi Edgar Young Levi Edgar Young (February 2, 1874 – December 13, 1963) was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was one of the seven presidents of the Seventy from 1909 until his death. He has been associated ...

, "The Angel Moroni and Cyrus Dallin", ''

Improvement Era The ''Improvement Era'' (often shortened to ''The Era'') was an official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between 1897 and 1970. History The ''Improvement Era'' was first published in 1897 as a replacement t ...

'', April 1953, p. 234. His statue became a symbol for the LDS Church and was the model for other angel Moroni statues on the spires of LDS Church temples. In Boston, Dallin became a colleague of Augustus St. Gaudens and a close friend of John Singer Sargent. He married Vittoria Colonna Murray in 1891 and returned to Utah to work on ''The Angel Moroni'' (1893). He taught for a year at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while completing his ''Sir Isaac Newton'' (1895) for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. In 1897, he traveled to Paris, and studied with Jean Dampt. He entered a ''Don Quixote'' statuette in the Salon of 1897, and '' The Medicine Man'' in the Salon of 1899 and the Exposition Universelle (1900). The couple moved to

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

, in 1900, where they established their residence and raised three sons. At the 1904 Summer Olympics in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Dallin competed in archery, winning the bronze medal in the team competition. He finished ninth in the Double American round and 12th in the Double York round. From 1899 to 1941, he was a member of the faculty of Massachusetts Normal Art School (now the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

) where one of his more notable students was Bashka Paeff. In 1912, he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1930. He also was a member of the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

and the National Association of Arts and Letters, as well as an associate at the at the

. When he died in 1944, his life was celebrated in a Unitarian service and he is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Arlington, Massachusetts .

Equestrian sculptures of indigenous peoples

Dallin created four prominent equestrian sculptures of indigenous people: ''

A Signal of Peace ''A Signal of Peace'' is an 1890 bronze equestrian sculpture by Cyrus Edwin Dallin located in Lincoln Park, Chicago. ''A Signal of Peace'' is one of Dallin's four most prominent sculptures of indigenous people known as ''The Epic of the Indian'', ...

'', or ''The Welcome'' (1890); '' The Medicine Man'', or ''The Warning'' (1899); '' Protest of the Sioux'', or ''The Defiance'' (1904); and ''

'' (1908). ''A Signal of Peace'' was exhibited at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

and was installed in Chicago's Lincoln Park in 1894. ''The Medicine Man'' was exhibited at the 1899 Paris Salon, and the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where it won a gold medal. It was installed in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park in 1903. The full-size staff version of ''Protest of the Sioux'' was exhibited at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, where it won a gold medal. The mounted brave defiantly shaking his fist at an enemy was never cast as a full-size bronze and survives only in statuette form. A one-third-size bronze version, cast in 1986, is at the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah. ''Appeal to the Great Spirit'' became an icon of American art and is Dallin's most famous work. The full-size version was cast in bronze in Paris and won a gold medal at the 1909 Paris Salon. It was installed outside the main entrance to the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

in 1912. Smaller versions of the work are in numerous American museums and in the permanent collection of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

. In 1929, a full-sized bronze version of ''Appeal to the Great Spirit''—personally overseen and approved by Dallin— was installed in Muncie, Indiana, at the intersection of Walnut and Granville Streets, and is considered by many residents to be a symbol of their city. A one-third-size plaster version was given to Tulsa, Oklahoma's Central High in 1923. It stood in the school's main hall until 1976, when Central closed its doors. In 1985, that plaster was used to cast a one-third-size bronze version, which is now in Woodward Park (Tulsa), at the intersection of 21st and Peoria Streets. There is also a version at St. John University in Wisconsin. File:IndianPeace.JPG, ''

'' (1890), Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois File:Philly Med Man.jpg, '' The Medicine Man'' (1899), Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania File:Sculpture- Protest of the Sioux by Cyrus E. Dallin.jpg, '' Protest of the Sioux'' (1904), at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair File:Appeal to the Great Spirit.jpg, ''

'' (1908), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

Legacy

The Cyrus E. Dallin Museum is located in the Jefferson Cutter House in Arlington, Massachusetts, is a museum devoted to his works with a collection of over 60 pieces, and many other of his sculptures are in the vicinity. An elementary school in Arlington is named for him. The Taylor-Dallin House in Arlington, Massachusetts, where Dallin and his family lived is a privately owned residence and has not been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. More than 30 of Dallin's works are on display at the Springville Museum of Art in his birthplace of

Springville, Utah Springville is a city in Utah County, Utah that is part of the Provo–Orem metropolitan area. The population was 35,268 in 2020, according to the United States Census. Springville is a bedroom community for commuters who work in the Provo-Ore ...

. The Dallin House at 253 S. 300 East in

, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Dallin's papers are at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Selected works

*''Model for Equestrian Statue of Lafayette'' (1889), Smithsonian American Art Museum,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

*''The Angel Moroni'' (1893), atop

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

*'' Brigham Young Monument'' (1893), Main and South Temple Streets, Salt Lake City, Utah *''Sunol'' (1893),

Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is a museum in Goshen, New York. The museum collects and preserves the history of harness racing and serves as a hall of fame for the American Standardbred horse. Orange County is the birthplace of Hamb ...

Goshen, New York Goshen is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 13,687 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Biblical Land of Goshen. It contains a village also called Goshen, which is the county seat of Orange Count ...

*''Sir Isaac Newton'' (1895), Main Reading Room,

, Washington, D.C. *''Don Quixote de La Mancha: The Knight of the Windmill'' (1898), Springville Museum of Art,

* Equestrian statue of Paul Revere (1899, dedicated 1940), Paul Revere Mall, opposite

Old North Church Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...

, Boston, Massachusetts *''View of Hobble Creek'' (ca 1900),

Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is the region's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice-Eccles Stadium. Works ...

, Salt Lake City, Utah *'' Eli Whitney Tablet'' (1902), Richmond County Courthouse,

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Georgi ...

*'' The Pickett'' (1905),

Battle of Hanover The Battle of Hanover took place on June 30, 1863, in Hanover in southwestern York County, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry, which was riding north to g ...

Hanover, Pennsylvania Hanover is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, southwest of York and north-northwest of Baltimore, Maryland and is north of the Mason-Dixon line. The town is situated in a productive agricultural region. The population was 16,429 at the ...

*''Victory'' (1909), Pioneer Park, Provo, Utah *'' General Winfield Scott Hancock'' (1909–10), Pennsylvania State Memorial,

Gettysburg Battlefield The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg within and around the borough of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot ...

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg (; non-locally ) is a borough and the county seat of Adams County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address are named for this town. Gettysburg is home to th ...

*'' Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument'' (1909–1911),

Clinton Square Clinton Square is an intersection in downtown Syracuse, New York, United States. The square was the original town center and first came into existence in the early 19th century where roadways from north and south convened. With the opening of the ...

, Syracuse, New York *''My Boys'' (c. 1910), Robbins Memorial Library,

*''

Robbins Memorial Flagstaff The Robbins Memorial Flagstaff (1913) is a structure supporting and topping a flagpole in Arlington, Massachusetts created by Cyrus Dallin. The supporting sculpture includes a variety of sculptural elements including bronze figures, stone eagles, ...

'' (1914), Town Hall, Arlington, Massachusetts *''

Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...

'' (1915, dedicated 1922),

Massachusetts Statehouse The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the state capitol and seat of government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. The buildin ...

, Boston, Massachusetts *''Governor William Bradford'' (1920, dedicated 1976),

Pilgrim Hall Museum The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824. History The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museum ...

, Plymouth, Massachusetts * Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar (1920) *''Signing the Mayflower Compact'' (1921),

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

* ''Boy and His Dog'' (1923)

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States Census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base that live within town limits. The town, loc ...

*''Memory'' (1924), Sherborn War Memorial,

Sherborn, Massachusetts Sherborn is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Boston's MetroWest region, is in area code 508 and has the ZIP code 01770. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town population was 4,401. Sherborn shares its highly ...

*''Spirit of Life'' (1929). Springville Museum of Art,

*''Pioneer Women of Utah'' (1931), Springville Museum of Art,

*''Alma Mater'' (1925), Mary Institue of

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

Ladue, Missouri Ladue is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 8,989. Ladue has the highest median household income of any city in Missouri with a population over 1,000. G ...

*''Memorial to The Pioneer Mothers of Springville'' (1932), Springville City Park,

Indigenous American works

*''

'' (1890), Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois *'' The Medicine Man'' (1899), Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *'' Protest of the Sioux'' (1904) **A one-third-size bronze version (cast 1986) is in the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah *''

'' (1909),

, Boston, Massachusetts **Smaller bronze versions are in Muncie, Indiana and the Museum of the West in Scottsdale, Arizona **A one-third-size plaster version, and a 1985 bronze version (cast from that plaster) are in Tulsa, Oklahoma *'' The Scout'' (1910, dedicated 1922),

Penn Valley Park Penn Valley Park is an urban park overlooking the Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The park was developed in 1904 on land through which the Santa Fe Trail had passed. It contains several famous landmarks: '' The Scout'' statue and the United Sta ...

, Kansas City, Missouri **A one-third-size bronze version is in Seville, Spain; a 1992 gift from Seville's sister-city, Kansas City, Missouri *''Chief Joseph'' (1911), New York Historical Society, New York City *'' Menotomy Indian Hunter'' (1911), Robbins Memorial Gardens, Arlington, Massachusetts *''

Massasoit Massasoit Sachem () or Ousamequin (c. 15811661)"Native People" (page), "Massasoit (Ousamequin) Sachem" (section),''MayflowerFamilies.com'', web pag was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. ''Massasoit'' means ''Great Sachem''. Mas ...

'' (1920),

Cole's Hill Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Ply ...

, opposite

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620. The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings; the first known writt ...

, Plymouth, Massachusetts **Other casts are at Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah;

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

, Provo, Utah; Springville Museum of Art, Springville, Utah;

Mill Creek Park Mill Creek Park (officially known as Mill Creek MetroParks) is a metropolitan park located in Youngstown, Ohio. The Trust for Public Land ranks one part of Mill Creek as the 142nd largest park located within the limits of a US city. Mill Creek ...

, Kansas City, Missouri; and Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio. *''On the Warpath #28'' (c. 1920),

, Salt Lake City, Utah and Brookgreen Garden Museum, Brookgreen, South Carolina *''Passing of the Buffalo'', also known as ''The Last Arrow'' (1929), Muncie, Indiana *''Pretty Eagle,'' Portrait Bust *''

,'' (1914) Native American woman with infant, Town Hall, Arlington, Massachusetts *''Sacagawea (1914)'', Museum of the West in Scottsdale, Arizona, Plaster version

Cyrus Dallin Art Museum The Cyrus Dallin Art Museum (CDAM) in Arlington, Massachusetts, United States is dedicated to displaying the artworks and documentation of American sculptor, educator, and Indigenous rights activist Cyrus Dallin, who lived and worked in the town f ...

, Arlington Massachusetts

Gallery

File:Lafayette-model.JPG, ''Model for Lafayette'' (1889), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. File:Loc-newton-highsmith.jpg, ''Sir Isaac Newton'' (1895),

, Washington, D.C. File:2010 NorthEnd Boston 4621037522.jpg, ''

'' (1899, dedicated 1940), Boston, Massachusetts, near

File:The Picket.jpg, ''The Picket'' (1905),

, Hanover, Pennsylvania File:Soldiers-sailors 1910.jpg, '' Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument'' (1909–1911),

, Syracuse, New York File:Civil-War-memorial-Clinton-Square-01.JPG, ''Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument'' detail File:KC Scout.jpg, '' The Scout'' (1910),

, Kansas City, Missouri File:My Boys by Cyrus Dallin - IMG 3056.JPG, ''My Boys'' (c. 1910), Robbins Memorial Library, Arlington, Massachusetts File:WLA nyhistorical Cyrus Edwin Dallin.jpg, ''Chief Joseph'' (1911), New York Historical Society, New York City File:Menotomy Indian Hunter by Cyrus E. Dallin - Arlington, Massachusetts.JPG, ''Menotomy Indian Hunter'' (1911), Robbins Park, Arlington, Massachusetts File:Robbins Memorial Flagstaff, Arlington, MA - b.jpg, ''Robbins Memorial Flagstaff'' (1914), Town Hall, Arlington, Massachusetts File:Anne Hutchinson statue.jpeg, ''Anne Hutchinson'' (1915, dedicated 1922),

, Boston, Massachusetts File:Massasoit statue plymouth 2007.jpg, ''Massasoit'' (1920), opposite

, Plymouth, Massachusetts File:Pilgrim tercentenary half dollar commemorative reverse.jpg, Pilgrim Tercentenary half dollar (1920) File:MayflowerCompactBasrelief.jpg, ''Signing the Mayflower Compact (1921), Provincetown, Massachusetts File:Monument, Memory Statue by Cyrus Edwin Dallin - Sherborn, MA - DSC03006.JPG, ''Memory'' (1924), Sherborn War Memorial, Sherborn, Massachusetts File:Cyrus Dallin Springville Pioneer Mother Memorial.JPG, ''Memorial to the Pioneer Mothers of Springville'' (1932), Springville, Utah File:Woburn Return of the Troops.jpg, Woburn Return of the Troops

References

External links

* * * List of sculptures by Cyrus Dallin in Massachusetts
The Cyrus E. Dallin Art Museum, Arlington, Massachusetts

Springville Museum of Art Springville, Utah
*

from 1943 Class of Central High {{DEFAULTSORT:Dallin, Cyrus Edwin Cyrus Edwin Dallin, 1861 births 1944 deaths Sculptors from Utah People from Springville, Utah Sculptors from Massachusetts Artists from Boston People from Arlington, Massachusetts Académie Julian alumni Drexel University faculty Massachusetts College of Art and Design faculty Angel Moroni American male archers Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in archery Archers at the 1904 Summer Olympics National Academy of Design members Former Latter Day Saints American Unitarians Converts to Unitarianism American male sculptors Medalists at the 1904 Summer Olympics National Sculpture Society members American currency designers Coin designers 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century male artists 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century artists 20th-century male artists