Browse Exhibits (2 total)

"Chivalric Patriotism": U.S. Nationalism, Military Service, and White Manhood in the Statue of General Ambrose E. Burnside (1887) in Providence, Rhode Island

Throughout history, equestrian monuments have paid tribute to prominent military leaders. In ancient Rome, for instance, equestrian monuments played the role of “honoring the emperor for singular military and civic achievements,”[1] framing the equestrian monument as a tool that lifts the subject above their contemporaries and captures a particular moment of power and control. Equestrian monuments became particularly popular after the United States Civil War, when both the Union and the Confederacy erected equestrian statues to commemorate prominent military leaders. The Statue of General Ambrose E. Burnside, located in Burnside Park, Providence, Rhode Island, serves as another example of this movement of equestrian monuments. The monument was built by Irish sculptor Launt Thompson and dedicated on July 4th, 1887.[2] The immensely grandiose dedication and the extensive celebrations that surrounded it suggest that the General Committee and the subsequent Building Committee that was established intended for it to have a very nuanced function. Based on the dedication of the monument and the articles published in The Providence Journal, the Statue of General Ambrose E. Burnside was intended to establish a flawless, glorified version of Burnside’s life in history, to promote a heroic, unwavering image of selfless patriotism for Rhode Island and the United States, to glorify military service, and to promote a noble ideal of white manhood.

bronze, burnside park, civil war, equestrian monument, launt thompson, manhood, providence, rhode island, soldier, war memorial

Enactments of Private Love in Public Space

This exhibit offers a commentary on some of the questions of power, privacy, and female representation that arise from the Carrie Brown Bajnotti Memorial Fountain.

Commissioned in 1899, erected in 1901, and unveiled in 1902, the Carrie Brown Bajnotti Memorial Fountain was given to the city of Providence by Count Paul Bajnotti in memory of his late wife. Caroline Mathilde Brown Bajnotti was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the granddaughter of Brown University’s namesake benefactor, Nicholas Brown II. She married Count Paul Bajnotti, a Foreign Affairs officer from Turin, Italy, in 1876, and the couple spent the majority of their married life in Italy until Carrie Brown Bajnotti’s death in 1896. To memorialize his wife’s death, Count Bajnotti commissioned three monuments in Providence: Carrie Brown Bajnotti Fountain (Burnside Park), Carrie Tower (Brown University), and the Pancratiast Statue (Roger Williams Park).

allegorical figure, bronze, burnside park, carrie bajnotti, carrie brown, city beautiful, enid yandell, fountain, providence, public grief, rhode island

Featured Exhibit

The Hiker Monument: White Manliness, US Imperialism, and Colonial Erasure

Kitson condensed the Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and China Relief Expedition by following the popular tradition of centering the white...