Memory: Marshall Field Monument, 1906
Daniel Chester French
with Henry Bacon
Graceland Cemetery
North
central section, west of the lake
2001 North Clark Street
At one time the wealthiest man in Chicago, Marshall Field
started out as a store clerk but became a partner in Potter Palmer’s dry-goods
store in 1865. Upon the departure of Palmer and the buyout of his partner Levi
Leiter, Field established Marshall Field & Company, which would become the
largest wholesale and retail dry-goods enterprise in the world. In his will,
Field allocated $8 million to build a home for the Field Museum of Natural
History on the Museum campus in Grant Park.
Chicago sculptor Lorado Taft described Daniel Chester
French’s sculpture as “genial, sympathetic and dignified” and his bronze,
female personification of “Memory” emanates an air of melancholic solemnity and
strength. The setting, with surrounding trees and bushes and a reflecting pool,
was designed by Henry Bacon, frequent collaborator with French on projects,
including the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The monument features carved
panels of male figures labeled as “Equity” and “Integrity.” The female figure
holds oak leaves, symbolizing courage in the face of death, and the granite
plinth features the caduceus, the staff carried by Hermes/Mercury, god of
commerce.
Marshall Field (1835-1906) is not named on the monument
itself but he, his family and his descendants are identified with a row of
simple headstones placed at some distance from the statue and pool of water.
Other works:
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