COLUMBUS MONUMENTS PAGES

Place Artist Date Type
Columbus, Georgia (USA)
Statue		 Richard Beyer and Mark Reavis 1993 Statue

Columbus's Columbuses (Ga.)  

Description:

The sculpture shows Columbus four times, each in a different phase of his life. These phases are indicated on the pedestal (clockwise, starting from the south side):

VISION
 PERSUASION
DISCOVERY
 CHAINS

Inscription:

Bronze plaque at the south side ("Vision") of the sculpture (all in capitals. For easier readability, the capitals are reduced):

COLUMBUS
THE STORY IN FOUR IMAGES OF THE MAN
Christopher Columbus, 1448-1510,1 was a Genovese mariner in the
service of the great Spanish Empire of 500 years ago whose vision of a
world connected across uncharted seas led to his arrival in the new
world in 1492

Returning from the first voyage (1492-93) and marching in triumph
from Palos to the court in Madrid, Columbus bore a parrot on his wrist
as the symbol of his discovery, as the phoenix was the bird of renewal
in the classical world, and the dove the voice of the medieval world, the
vision of Columbus is symbolized by the multicolored, exotic symbol of
the western world.

The young Columbus staggers before the certainty of a greater
world, which, with his navigational skill,he will ultimately
traverse.

He explains to the skeptical powers that the world is spherical2
and small and the sea to him is as the land is to them.

As he placed his foot upon the rich earth of the new world,
Columbus set in motiun ripples that continue to affect the
lives of modern men and women around the globe.

Despite the depth of his vision, Columbus returned to Spain a
man broken of spirit and bound by the society in which he
had once flourished.

The visions that make men great are as timeless as we are timebound,
where there is no vision, the people perish. Vision is our consolation.

Why do mountains, rivers, nations, cities all over the world remember
this man's name? As history weighed more heavily in the old world, he
saw a vision of a new world, may we too, in our communities and our
time, share this renewing vision.
Footnotes:
1. These dates are wrong, Columbus's birth year is uncertain, but he certainly died in 1506.
2. The story that Columbus has to convince the council that the earth is spherical is a fable introduced in the 19th century by Washington Irving. Since ancient times the sphericity of the earth was known.

Notes:

The statue is placed on a plaza in the Chattahoochee Riverwalk (which itself is a monument for Columbus), at the south side of the Dillingham bridge. The four-piece sculpture was commissioned by Columbus benefactor Elena Amos (her husband John Beverly Amos [1924-1990] founded AFLAC; his bust is on the same plaza). The city dedicated the statue in October of 1993.

Source(s):

  • Columbus, Ga., General information (information no longer on this website).
  • Photos by Peter van der Krogt, 28 October 2003.
  • Email by Carolyn P. Smith, Heritage Education Coordinator, Historic Columbus Foundation, Inc.

That's me, making the photographs for this web page, on a grey October morning. (this photo was taken by my brother René van der Krogt).


JOHN BEVERLY AMOS
JUNE 5, 1924 AUGUST 13, 1990
HE LIVED A HAPPY LIFE AND
HOPED HE MADE A DIFFERENCE
TO HIS FELLOWMAN
© Peter van der Krogt; Added 6 December 2001, last update:
Introduction page