So, the inaugural posting for this site will be about a sculpture that stands in the center of Old Town Alexandria. This is slightly ironic as I foresee this site/blog dealing mostly with sculpture and artwork in Washington, DC. It is after all titled "LovingDC." However Alexandria was originally part of the District of Columbia and certainly in the original Capital diamond so I don't consider it a stretch for this site.
This site is my attempt to share my love and appreciation for the sculpture and architecture of Washington, DC and its surrounds.
Anyway, today's work is by the Bohemian-immigrant sculptor Caspar Buberl. He's remembered mostly for his Civil-War statuary. Interestingly enough he executed works in both the North and the South. He was clearly in high demand.
In Washington, DC his most outstanding work may be the gorgeous 1,200-foot-long sculptured frieze that wraps around the Pension Building (now the National Building Museum). I recently drove by this building around dusk and was delighted to see how Buberl's frieze sort of glows like a belt around this beautiful building.
The piece is the second big commission Buberl did in the United States (the first being the top of Adolph Cluss' lovely Arts & Industries Building).
At some point Buberl seems to have moved towards freestanding bronze statues and found a niche doing the Civil War memorials that were cropping up at the end of the 19th century.
Today's photos are of the beautiful Alexandria Confederate Memorial which is on George Washington Highway in Old Town.
A handsome statue with such detail, this statue's location in the middle of a very busy thoroughfare leaves it ignored by most. Certainly the amazing amount of work involved is lost on most viewers.
It actually required my stopping, parking, and walking around the sculpture (which involved going through four crosswalks) to realize how much care Buberl took in this work.
For example I was struck by the detail in the folds of cloth along the legs of the soldier. The back seams in his jacket are extremely lifelike. It's a stunning piece of work.
Also note the great canteen slung over his shoulder. The ringed vessel and napsack are incredibly well executed.
Given its location on a highway I'm surprised this sculpture hasn't been wrecked in some way. While it's position certainly lends it some gravitas, it seems 
a precarious place for a sculpture of such delicacy.
According to James Goode's Sculpture of Washington, DC (sadly long long long out of print) some time ago the State of Virginia enacted a law making the removal of the statue impossible. So it's not going anywhere anytime soon. At one time it stood in a nice circular island but with increased traffic the circle shrunk until all the remains is a foot or so around the base of the statue.
Update: Since the original publication of this post, Goode has released an updated volume of his Sculpture book.
