Moving along now so we can get back to St. Louis, here is a smorgasbord of Paris buildings that have broader implications on world architectural history, including here in the Gateway City. First up is the Madeleine, which was originally built by Napoleon to glorify his reign, but was then converted into a church. It’s…
Tag: Monuments
The Pantheon, Paris
The Pantheon in Paris, named after the one in Rome, has gone through so many identity changes over the centuries that it’s hard to keep track. You can read about that elsewhere. However, it’s the perfect domed church-like structure to examine in the history of architecture right after the domed chapel of the Invalides, which…
Les Invalides
I caught this view of the dome of the Invalides through the trees of the gardens of the Rodin Museum, which is a must-see when you’re visiting Paris. Designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the structure serves as a critical step in the development of domes in Western architecture. The domed church was part of a larger…
Cathedral Basilica of St. Denis
I saw six cathedrals when I was in Paris and the surrounding environs. First up is the former abbey church and now Cathedral Basilica of St. Denis. It was once out in the country north of Paris but is now deep in the larger metropolitan region and has a thriving immigrant community. There was heavy…
Our Lady of the Rivers, Portage des Sioux
Located down a concrete walkway at the end of a promontory, the statue of Our Lady of the Rivers is a short distance from the town of Portage des Sioux. Past the front entry, there are a series of steel panels commemorating various river-related events, such the one below. The statue itself, designed by Norma…
Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Monument and the Lindell Entrance to Forest Park
Standing at the Lindell entrance to Forest Park, the statue of Francis Preston Blair, Jr. memorialized a Missouri politician that is not very well known anymore, but was once so prominent that he is actually one of two Missourians represented in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Here’s another great writeup about Blair, at a…
Around Buchanan County, Iowa, July 2022
Update: New photography added in July of 2023. In a clockwise route, we explored various small towns in Buchanan County, starting in the northeast with Lamont, where we first spied this foundation above left behind but incorporated into a horse enclosure. There was also a half-flounder downtown on the main street, though I don’t know…
Homer G. Phillips Grave, St. Peter’s Cemetery
I was recently giving a talk about the importance of African American lawyer and civil rights activist Homer G. Phillips, and it dawned on me that I didn’t know where he was buried. I’ve looked at the hospital that he was so instrumental in getting built before. I turns out he’s buried with his wife,…
Civil War Monument, Central Park, Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville was a center of the Abolitionist movement, apparently, and it is reflected in its Civil War Memorial. There are a lot of names listed on its base for a relatively small town. At the top is the allegorical figure of Columbia, sculpted by Leonard Crunelle and obviously cast in bronze. The inscription on the…
Central Park, Downtown Jacksonville, Illinois
Jacksonville was founded by groups of “Yankees,” from New England, many of whom were graduates of Yale University. I can’t help but think the influence of the large town commons and greens of cities such as New Haven played a part in the design of Central Park, the outsized town square of Jacksonville. The center…