Monday, September 16, 2013

Boston Monuments:Christopher Columbus & Talk Fall Schedule 2013


Christopher Columbus
Waterfront / Christopher Columbus Park Andrew J. Mazzola, Sculptor Carrara Marble
This monument is located in one of the most beautiful and historic parks within Boston.
The historic docks constructed and used for the Mercantile trade between Boston, Europe and the Caribbean during the 1600’s,1700’s and 1800’s border this park.

The Boston Parks Department Summer Concert Series and the Holiday lighting of the blue lit Arbor Ceremony all happen here, right before Christopher Columbus.

The Christopher Columbus Park was constructed in 1974, thanks to the efforts of a non-profit group formed by residents and businesses in the North End and Waterfront areas. This tribute to the park’s namesake explorer was added a few years later. In their proximity to the North End, the statue and park emphasize Columbus’s Italian heritage. The statue created by Andrew J. Mazzola of Norwood Monumental Works is carved from Italian Carrara marble, favored by sculptors for its quality and its translucence. The marble’s porous surface has also been susceptible to vandals, some of whom view Columbus as an oppressor, not a hero. Courtesy of Boston Art Commission.

The voyages of Columbus molded the future of European colonization and encouraged European exploration of foreign lands for centuries to come.
Columbus’ initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of emerging modern western imperialism and economic competition between developing kingdoms seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus’s far fetched scheme won the attention of Isabelle of Castle. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the lands he encountered for Asia, he
referred to the inhabitants as (“indios,” Spanish for “Indians”). 

"Boston Bronze and Stone Speak To Us" can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble Bookstores.

My two minute introductory talk about my 5 week seminar course on "Boston Bronze and Stone Monuments"conducted at the Beacon Hill Seminars was an up lifting experience in the presence of high energy professors and teachers of all interests.

The State House talk at Nurses Hall last week, I am certain was invigorating for my doest audience.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Happy Birthday Boston: Boston Monuments September 7, 1630.


The Founders Memorial, 1930
Boston Common / Beacon and Spruce Streets John F. Paramino, Sculptor
Bronze Bas-relief / Stone

Boston Founded AD 1630 Tablet
Commissioned by the City of Boston to mark its 300th anniversary.
Taken from the Stone
This base relief plaque depicts the primary meeting between Boston’s first settler, the reclusive William Blackston (Blaxton) and John Winthrop. Winthrop and his companions found Charlestown unsatisfactory and crossed to “Shawmut”, the peninsula we now know as Boston. Among the figures in the group are the clergyman John Wilson, and Ann Pollard, the first white woman known to step onto Boston’s soil. 

Happy Birthday on September 7, Sarah Hutt, former Director of the Boston Art Commission, City of Boston