Update: The Soldiers’ Memorial underwent an extensive renovation and reopened in 2018 under the management of the Missouri History Museum. Read my article about the completed renovations here.
I realized recently that the two horsemen out front of the Soldiers’ Memorial are clearly based off of the famous Dioscuri statues which stand out front of the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome.
Dug out of the ground during the Renaissance, these ancient statues were from the Severan period of ancient Rome.
Read about them here, in Italian, by translating the page at Google.
But – our warriors and their stallions (?) are much more modest than those of Rome…Excuse my ignorance but – what do the wings on the horses signify?
The wings probably are a reference to Pegasus, the winged horse of Perseus from ancient mythology.
I actually thought about Pegasus, but I couldn't figure out the connection – unless – it was a veiled (to me, anyway) reference to aviators.