The Memorial To Lee And Jackson

Such memorials as that to be dedicated in Wyman Park today draw their immediate significance, properly enough, from the events which they commemorate. Lee and Jackson are notable figures in the history of our country. For special reasons, they are very dear to the people of this community. Mr. J. Henry Ferguson, whose be-quest, made the monument possible, expressed a feeling which many Marylanders share.

But, in the last analysis, this piece of sculpture, like all those preceding it, will survive and take its proper place in accordance with its merit as a work of art. People remember, of course, the great events which inspire great art. But they remember and cherish great art regardless of the individual or the event which may have inspired it.

Baltimore has many monuments commemorative of heroes and great events. A few of them are good but, to be candid about it, most of them hardly merit a second glance as works of art. If they were to be carted away, it would be no great loss.’

The new double equestrian will be finally judged by the generations which follow this one. “As of now we can only guess what the verdict will be. But competent critics all seem agreed that a difficult subject has been handled not only with grace and dignity but with unusual conviction. The laymen, or at least most of the laymen with whom we have talked, seem to be willing to go much further than that. They find Mrs. Fraser’s bronze a noble thing. They understand her intent.

They are delighted by the absence of any of that fuzzy indecision which seems so often to obtrude into modern sculpture.

They are willing to believe, here and now, that this monument will be looked at and enjoyed by people who know little and care less about the incident it commemorates.

They rejoice in its setting, and in the appropriateness of its pedestal. They hold, and we go along with them, that here is one memorial which raises the average of our public art and helps support our reputation as the Monumental City.