I Spy Sunday - GRASS

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This Sunday the I Spy meme is grass. Click the magnifying glass below to visit gMirage2g in Vienna to see a list of participants and to join the Sunday meme.

Boston Massacre Statue

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The monument consists of an allegorical female figure representing the Spirit of the Revolution standing atop a granite base in front of a tall granite obelisk adorned with a band of thirteen stars around the top. The female figure is loosely draped and holds a furled American flag in her proper left hand. Her proper right arm is raised and in her proper right hand she holds a broken piece of chain. Beneath her proper right foot is a broken British crown. An eagle ready to take flight is perched by her proper left foot. On the base, beneath the female figure, is a bronze relief plaque depicting the Boston Massacre. It shows five men, Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, James Caldwell, Samuel Gray, and Patrick Carr, slain by the British soldiers in front of the Massachusetts State House. The hand of one victim and the foot of another project from the surface of the relief. The hand is brightly polished by visitors who think they are shaking the hand of Crispus Attuck.

John Endicott Statue

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A standing portrait of John Endicott dressed in early colonial attire consisting of a jacket with a wide, square collar, knee breeches, buckle shoes, and a long cape. He holds his hat down at his side in his proper right hand. The sculpture rests on a square base that extends from a large granite wall. A low granite bench surround the base of the wall. The statue is white granite and is approximately 10 ft. in height on a 4 1/2 ft. base, which is made of granite.


John Endicott was a Puritan colonial leader known for his intolerance of religious dissenters. Between 1630 and 1664, he was at various times assistant governor, deputy governor, or governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1636 he led an expedition against the Pequot which caused the already difficult relationship between the native peoples and the colonists to deteriorate into a state of war. The Pequot War of 1637 eventually resulted in the death or capture of most of the Pequot. During the 1650s, Endicott was responsible for the persecution of many Quakers, whom he either imprisoned, banished, or executed.

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

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Civil War monument erected in 1877 in the Boston Common. It is a column topped by a figure representing the Genius of America. Four statues at the base represent Peace, the Sailor, the Muse of History, and the Soldier. Bas-relief plaques depict the departure and return of the forces, the Navy, and the work of the Boston Sanitary Commission. In one plaque, Longfellow can be seen accompanying the governor. The figures at the base of the column represent the sections of the country: North, South, East, and West.

Statler Statue Fountain

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This statue is located at Statler Park, Stuart Street at Park Square and was designed by Ulysses Anthony Ricci (1888-1960). The sculpture was a gift of the Hotel Statler Company, Inc. and was presented to the city in 1930 as part of a beautification project for the Park. Originally, water flowed from the cup the figure holds, into the raised bowl, and then into the basin. The fountain is no longer operable. A bronze dedication plaque originally on base is now missing.

The sculpture is a bronze, art deco fountain in the shape of a Roman tripod brazier. A woman in classical robes stands in the middle of the upper bowl holding a cup from which water originally flowed. The large bowl is decorated with signs of the zodiac in relief; the lip edge is decorated with egg and dart molding. The legs are decorated with semi-draped male figures above grotesque decorations and terminate in lions' paws. The basin at foot of the fountain is now a planter.

Josiah Quincy

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Statue of Josiah Quincy in front of the Old City Hall. Josiah Quincy (1772-1864) was mayor of Boston, a municipal court judge, and a president of Harvard College.

You can see the house he grew up in, in Quincy, Massachusetts here.

Here is a full-size view of Old City Hall. The Quincy statue is on the right. [click the image to enlarge it]

Museum of Fine Arts

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For Sunday morning who wouldn't like to visit a museum and wander its galleries gazing at some of the greatest art man has produced.

The life-sized statue on the front lawn of the museum is the Appeal to the Great Spirit by Cyrus E. Dallin and is the focal point of the museum's original Huntington Avenue entrance.

There is one other life-size copy of the statue in Muncie Indiana; a little trivia for locals, the statue is also the model for the mascot of Quincy High School.

Anne Hutchinson

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Statue of Anne Hutchinson on the front lawn of the Massachusetts State House. She was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for her religious beliefs and because she offended the mores of Puritan society. Her particular "heresy" was to maintain that it was a blessing and not a curse to be a woman, making her perhaps the first American feminist.

Inscription on the statue:
In Memory of
Anne Marbury Hutchinson
Baptized at Alford
Licolnshire England
20 - July 1595
Killed by the Indians
at East Chester New York 1643
Courageous Exponent
of Civil Liberty
and Religious Toleration

WWII Statue

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World War II Memorial to the men of Boston who died in the war.

JFK Statue

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Statue of John F. Kennedy on the grounds of the State House. This area used to be open to the public, but is no longer.

International Women's Day

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The first International Women's Day (IWD) was observed in February of 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (New York, 1911), where over 140 women lost their lives. Today IWD is more strongly identified with Russia and its former eastern bloc allies, but it is also considered the first day of the spring season so it is well worth observing on both accounts.

In honor of International Women's Day, I am showing the second of two female statues from the Brewer Fountain on Boston Common. You can see the other statue here.

Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne, favorite son of Salem, Massachusetts and author of Scarlet Letter and House of Seven Gables. This statue is by Bela Pratt, who also did the statue in Nurse's Hall in the State House.

Brewer Fountain

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The first piece of public art on the Common was the Brewer Fountain, donated by Gardner Brewer in 1868. The fountain is a bronze replica of a French original that won a gold medal at the 1855 Paris World’s Fair. The figures represent mythological figures associated with water: Neptune, Amphitrite, Asis, and Galatea.

Duck's eye view

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This is an over the shoulder duck's eye view of the Public Garden's Make way for ducklings.
Here is a different view of the ducklings.

300

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Here is another view of the George Washington statue.

George Washington

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This statue of George Washington on his horse greets visitors to the Public Garden. Created by Thomas Ball in 1869, it is the first statue of the former president on his horse.

Snowy Nymphs

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Detail view of nymphs on the water fountain in the Boston Common.   Steeple of Park Street Church in background.

Paul Revere Statue

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City Hall

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View of the Boston City Hall from Fanueil Hall. In the foreground is a statue of former four term Boston mayor, Kevin White.

James Michael Curley

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Statue of James Michael Curley, former mayor of Boston. In the background is the New England Holocaust Memorial.