The Crusader (sculpture)

Statue in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

United States historic place

Victor Lawson Monument

U.S. Historic district
Contributing property

The statue in 2023

Location| Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States
Built| 1931
Sculptor| Lorado Taft
Architectural style| Gothic Revival[1]
Part of| Graceland Cemetery (ID00001628)
Designated CP| January 18, 2001

The Crusader, also known as the Victor Lawson Monument, is a memorial marking the grave of Chicago newspaper publisher Victor Lawson. It is in Chicago's historic Graceland Cemetery and was designed by American sculptor Lorado Taft in 1931.

## History

[edit]

The Crusader was created in 1931 by Lorado Taft.[2] In Chicago's historic Graceland Cemetery, it is a monument intended to memorialize Victor F. Lawson (1850–1925), the publisher of the Chicago Daily News.[2] The Chicago Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy and William Dougherty in 1875.[3] In July 1876, Lawson invested money into the publication, which was struggling, and became its business manager. By the 1890s, the paper had reached a circulation of 200,000 people. Lawson remained involved with the paper until 1925.[4] The Crusader was commissioned by Victor Lawson's brother, Iver Lawson.[5]

## Design

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The Crusader is a medieval knight, and is used to symbolize the character of Victor Lawson.[2] Standing more than thirteen feet tall, it was carved out of a solid block of dark granite supplied by the Henry C. Smalley Granite Company of Quincy, Massachusetts. The granite was then highly polished.[6] The knight, with a large sword and shield, was an image that Taft had contemplated for years; he used it in numerous works besides The Crusader.[7] The original model of The Crusader was done in clay.[7]

Unlike Taft's earlier work, The Crusader emphasizes its "sheer mass", helped by the lack of realistic details in the sculpture.[7] The monument does not bear Lawson's name, but does have an inscription which reads, "Above all things truth beareth away the victory",[2] a quote from 1 Esdras 3:12.[8] Stylistically, the Lawson Monument falls within Gothic Revival.[1] The Crusader is described as "an excellent example of Taft's late style in which he blended literal realism and allegory".[9]

## See also

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* Eternal Silence
* List of public art in Chicago

## References

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* Kiefer, Charles D., Achilles, Rolf, and Vogel, Neil A. "Graceland Cemetery" (pdf), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, June 18, 2000, accessed October 8, 2011.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Graceland Cemetery, Lawson, Victor, Monument", Property Information Report, HAARGIS Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, accessed October 8, 2011.
2. ^ a b c d Kiefer, et al., p. 71.
3. ^ Scott, Frank William, and Edmund Janes James. Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879, (Google Books link), Harvard University, 1910, p. 127.
4. ^ Nord, David Paul. "Lawson, Victor Fremont". American National Biography Online, Oxford University Press, February 2000. Accessed on October 11, 2011.
5. ^ Dennis, Charles Henry. Victor Lawson: His Time and His Work, (Google Books link), University of Chicago Press, 1935, p. 462.
6. ^ "Unique statue as memorial to Victor Lawson". Chicago Daily Tribune. July 24, 1931. p. 21.
7. ^ a b c Prince, Sue Ann. The Old Guard and the Avant-Garde: Modernism in Chicago, 1910-1940, (Google Books link), University of Chicago Press, 1990, p. 52, (ISBN 0226682846).
8. ^ "Merchants and Inventors", Graceland Cemetery, official site, accessed October 9, 2011.
9. ^ Kiefer, et al., p. 149.

* v
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Lorado Taft

Sculptures|

* LaFayette Fountain
* Black Hawk Statue
* Eternal Silence
* Statue of George Washington
* Columbus Fountain
* Fountain of the Great Lakes
* The Solitude of the Soul
* The Soldiers' Monument
* Thatcher Memorial Fountain
* Fountain of Time
* The Recording Angel
* Lincoln the Lawyer
* The Pioneers
* Alma Mater
* Frances Elizabeth Willard
* The Crusader
* Heald Square Monument

Related|

* Taft family
* Emily Taft Douglas (daughter)
* Eagle's Nest Art Colony
* Lorado Taft Midway Studios

* v
* t
* e

Public art in Chicago

Works|

* 8th Street Fountain
* Agora
* The Alarm
* Allow Me
* America's Courtyard
* Balbo Monument
* Batcolumn
* Big Beaver Totem Pole
* The Bowman and The Spearman
* Brachiosaurus replicas
* Burnham Pavilions
* Chevron
* Chicago Picasso
* Chicago Rising from the Lake
* Chicago Stock Exchange Arch
* Children's Fountain
* Cloud Gate
* Constellation
* Crack the Whip
* Crossing
* Crown Fountain
* The Crusader
* Cubi VII
* Dream Lady
* Eli Bates Fountain
* Eternal Silence
* Flamingo
* Flying Dragon
* Fountain Girl
* Fountain of the Great Lakes
* Fountain of Time
* Goethe Monument
* Governor Horner State Memorial
* Green Lightning
* Horse and Rider
* Joseph Rosenberg Fountain
* Kwanusila
* Large Interior Form, 1953–54
* LGBT veterans monument
* Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument
* Lions
* Looking Into My Dreams, Awilda
* Magdalene
* Man Enters the Cosmos
* Man with Fish
* Miró's Chicago
* Monument with Standing Beast
* Moose (W-02-03)
* Mural of Robin Williams
* Nuclear Energy
* Olmec Head, Number 8
* San Marco II
* Siblings
* A Signal of Peace
* Spiral Galaxy
* Spirit of Music
* Statue of The Republic
* Untitled (Rückriem)
* Untitled (Wool)
* Victory Monument
* We Will

| Portrait
sculptures|

* John Peter Altgeld
* Jack Brickhouse
* Christopher Columbus†
* Nicolaus Copernicus
* Leif Erikson
* Benjamin Franklin
* Ulysses S. Grant
* Nathan Hale
* Alexander Hamilton
* Karel Havlíček
* Heald Square Monument
* Alexander von Humboldt
* Michael Jordan
* Benito Juárez
* Tadeusz Kościuszko
* Irv Kupcinet
* Robert Cavelier de La Salle
* Abraham Lincoln
* The Chicago Lincoln
* The Head of State
* The Man
* John Logan
* William McKinley
* Richard J. Oglesby
* Ryne Sandberg
* Jean Baptiste Point du Sable
* Friedrich Schiller
* William Shakespeare
* Philip Sheridan
* Georg Solti
* Emanuel Swedenborg

|

Related|

* Art Institute of Chicago Building
* Boeing Galleries
* Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet
* Gold Star Families Memorial and Park
* Graffiti in Chicago

Key: † No longer extant or on public display
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