505 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
WELL- PLACED AND MISPLACED PARK MONUMENTS 
During the past year, The Art Commission of the City 
of New York has given much time and consideration to 
the subject of the location of monuments, and has issued 
a valuable report on this subject. Their locations are 
among the most difficult questions which the Commis- 
sion has to decide. These difficulties are due chiefly to 
the fact that in most cases the monument is not designed 
for a specific site. When completed, it is submitted for a 
definite spot which, in most instances, is selected not 
because it suits the character of the monument but be- 
cause it is conspicuous, as, for instance, at the junction 
of two or more important streets or in a prominent place 
in one of the chief squares or parks. 
It is self-evident that the character of the monument 
should determine the nature of its setting. The all-im- 
portant question in selecting a site is that it shall be of a 
character suited to the monument, but usually in order 
to satisfy the desire for a conspicuous place other con- 
siderations are ignored and, as a consequence, many mon- 
uments stand in unsuitable locations. The sites for mon- 
uments erected before the existence of the Art Commis- 
sion were not, as a rule chosen hastily but in nearly every 
case much time and effort were devoted to the selection 
and in many instances it took several years to reach a 
decision. That so many monuments stand in unfortunate 
locations is, therefore, due not to carelessness or lack of 
deliberation, but to failure to recognize the fact that a 
well placed monument forms an integral part of its sur- 
roundings. Because of this failure to appreciate that there 
should be a distinct relationship between a monument and 
its immediate neighborhood, many monuments have no 
relation to the shape or size of the place where they stand, 
nor to their surroundings. Some are in the midst of great 
whirlpools of traffic with skyscrapers towering above them 
and huge signboards for a background. One can examine 
and enjoy them only at the risk of life and limb. Swal- 
lowed up and submerged in the turmoil and confusion of 
these prominent focal points of street traffic, these monu- 
ments of distinguished men appear as forlorn bronze 
figures stranded on their granite pedestals. Such situa- 
tions destroy the dignity and beauty of the monument. 
Many monuments consist of massive granite pedestals 
surmounted by huge bronze busts. In general these have 
been erected in the parks. Many of them stand on beau- 
tiful green lawns, conspicuous objects but without local 
relation to their surroundings. Surely it cannot be rea- 
sonably claimed that they are ornaments to the park or 
that the green lawns would not be more beautiful without 
them. It is easy to imagine that some giant striding 
through the park with a monument under his arm became 
tired and set it down and left it where it now stands, dis- 
placing grass and shrubs and disfiguring the face of 
nature. It must not be understood that the Art Commis- 
sion is opposed to monuments in parks, but the Commis- 
sion is concerned that every monument shall be so placed 
as to fit into its surroundings, and above all to enhance the 
beauty of the park in which it is placed. 
The following report of a Sub-Committee on a monu- 
ment of this character sets forth the attitude of the Art 
Commission : 
“We respectfully report that your Committee have 
visited and examined all of the proposed sites and do 
not consider that the work of art is suitable for any of 
these sites. The bust is of more than usual heroic size, 
and might almost be called colossal, as it is five feet high, 
and is to be placed upon a massive granite or marble ped- 
estal, nine feet three inches high, having a base measure- 
ment of six feet by eight feet, so that the total height 
including the bust is fourteen feet three inches. Wher- 
ever placed it will be a conspicuous object. Before reach- 
ing a conclusion your Committee took occasion to ob- 
serve the bronze busts of Mazzini and Beethoven, which 
are now in Central Park, which are similar in their gen- 
eral character as works of art to the proposed bust and 
pedestal, though possibly somewhat smaller, and they 
were impressed by the unsuitability of sculpture of this 
description for any site where lawns, shrubbery and trees 
are the principal and natural features. The examples 
mentioned seem to your Committee to illustrate the in- 
appropriateness of placing busts and pedestals of the 
character now offered in such locations, and to demon- 
strate that such statuary is a detriment rather than an 
acquisition to our public parks. It is the conviction of 
the Commitee that works of art of the character of that 
before us are entirely unsuitable for such sites irrespec- 
tive of their individual artistic merit and that the Com- 
mission cannot consistently approve their acceptance 
therefor.” 
Curiously, many of those submitting monuments seem 
to think that because the Commission disapproves of a 
site as being unsuited to the particular monument, it is 
thereby condemning the monument itself or slighting the 
person or event which it is intended to commemorate. It 
goes without saying that the Commission is in full sym- 
pathy with every effort to honor those to whom honor 
is due, but is solicitious not to dishonor them by honor- 
ing them in an unsuitable place. It believes, moreover, 
that a monument should be so placed as not only to re- 
call grateful memories of the person but to be a distinct 
ornament to the place in which it stands. 
While definite rules cannot be laid down for the loca- 
tion of monuments any more than rules can with finality 
be given for the composition of a picture or a group of 
sculpture, yet certain fundamental principles are very evi- 
dent. A monument should be so placed that it is in proper 
relation both architecturally and sculpturally to the spot 
in which it is located, be it street, square or park; that 
its commemorative or particular character is in harmony 
with its surroundings, and that it is and will remain a 
distinct adornment to the locality in which it stands. The 
