The Bowman and The Spearman

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The Bowman and The Spearman (also known collectively as Equestrian Indians , or just Indian ), are two bronze statues standing as gatekeepers at the Congress Plaza, at the intersection of Congress Parkway and Michigan Avenue at Grant Park in Chicago , in the US state of Illinois. Statues made in Zagreb by Croatian sculptor Ivan Me? Trovi? and installed at the entrance of the parkway in 1928. Funding was provided by Benjamin Ferguson Fund.

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Structure
Each statue stands seventeen feet tall and lies on an eighteen foot granite base. When the area was first designed, the statues were meant to guard the large staircase into the garden. However, these stairs were removed when Congress Parkway was extended in the 1940s. Research in 2006 suggests that the posts on the pedestals are designed by Holabird & amp; Roche was executed by sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan.
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History

The idea of â€‹â€‹placing large statues at the entrance of the park comes from the famous city planner Daniel Burnham 1909 Chicago Plans . Burnham, a man with vision and charisma, has a powerful influence on how the lake appears today. He envisioned a large park stretching from Michigan Avenue to the lakeside filled with beautiful gardens, walkways, and general artwork. Burnham himself, however, planned that the two statues become "one Indian and one" Bill Buffalo like "the portrayal of the conquering white pioneers" to symbolize India's American heritage and his struggle for expansion.

The unusual aspect of the statue is that the two figures lost their weapons, bows and arrows and spears. Eliminating the weapons was intentional, because artists prefer that they "be left imaginary, while attention is focused on the thick lines of human and animal muscles, as well as the linear patterns of mane and horsetail, and headdresses of figures." Despite the fact that weapons never really existed, many theories have existed from time to time for their existence. Some believe that they are taken as part of an elaborate joke, while others are under the impression that their abolition is a show of respect after the events of 11 September 2001.

A writer says of these works, "My best monumental sculptures are the Chicago Indians (1926-27), they are not very clear in style: the muscles of the horseback riders are almost anatomically realistic.... These statues show how much more important is the real feeling of carving than ideology, to Me? Trovi? Hardly knowing anything about the ideals of American Indians and they certainly did not move them. "

After completing a number of statues in Europe and other parts of the world, Me? Trovi? returned to the United States and spent the rest of his life as the first famous professor at Syracuse University and later at the University of Notre Dame.

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Latitude and longitude coordinates

Bowman : 41,87598 Ã‚ Â° N 87, 62348 Ã‚ Â° W / 41,87598; -87.62348 ( Bowman )
The Spearman : 41,87550 Ã‚ Â° N 87,62348 Ã‚ Â° W / 41,87550; -87.62348 ( The Spearman )