Israel Putnam Monument

Connecticut

Critics said the horse on this Revolutionary War monument looked like it had a leg disease.

historicalmilitaryroadsideculture

The bronze horse in Brooklyn, Connecticut got some of the worst reviews in American sculpture. One newspaper critic decided the animal appeared to be suffering from bone spavin, a bone ailment of the leg. A review in The Sun in 1886 put it this way. There is a sinister suggestion of spavin aft, while forward the shoulders and legs are gathered into a spasmodic upward pounce that was never seen on land or any sea horse. Another critic, writing in 1890, called the whole thing a clumsy copy of somebody else's equestrian statue. The rider is Israel Putnam, a Connecticut man who rose to senior major general in the Continental Army. He sits in Revolutionary War dress, tricorne hat, sword on his left hip, right arm pointing forward. Sculptor Karl Gerhardt of Hartford beat twenty four other entries for the commission and was paid ten thousand dollars. Not everyone piled on. A 1913 book on the equestrian monuments of the world said the statue was by no means the least effective in America.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
The monument was criticized by contemporary reviewers, who especially criticized the horse, with one review noting that it appeared to be suffering from bone spavin.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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