At A Glance
General William M. Reilly of the Pennsylvania National Guard established a trust fund to create monuments to Revolutionary War heroes
Four bronze statues were installed by 1947 in the terrace northwest of the Art Museum
As specified in the will, the first four sculptures commemorated Montgomery, Pulaski, von Steuben, and Lafayette
Sculptures of John Paul Jones and Nathanael Greene were installed in 1957 and 1961
In his will of 1890, General William M. Reilly of the Pennsylvania National Guard established a trust fund for the purpose of creating monuments to Revolutionary War heroes. The earnings were to accumulate until the fund became large enough for the memorial to be realized. In 1938, when the fund reached the necessary level, the trustees set the project in motion, and four bronze statues were installed by 1947.
As specified in the will, these first four sculptures commemorated…volunteers from other lands who “threw themselves into the cause of emancipating the colonies from the yoke of British tyranny.”
Although Reilly had requested a site near Independence Hall, the larger-than-life figures were placed instead in the terrace northwest of the Art Museum. C. Louis Borie, Jr., one of the architects of the museum itself, designed the granite bases.
As specified in the will, these first four sculptures commemorated Montgomery, Pulaski, von Steuben, and Lafayette, volunteers from other lands who “threw themselves into the cause of emancipating the colonies from the yoke of British tyranny.” In addition to honoring their achievements, General Reilly wrote, the memorial would express “appreciation and gratitude to the lands which gave these liberty-loving men their birth.”
By the terms of the will, funds remaining after the erection of the four original monuments were to be applied to other statues of Revolutionary heroes. Accordingly the trustees commissioned bronze figures of John Paul Jones and Nathanael Greene, which were installed in 1957 and 1961, respectively. The six sculptures are arranged in two facing rows.
Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).
Sculptures in the William M. Reilly Memorial:
- General Richard Montgomery (c. 1946), J. Wallace Kelly
- General Casimir Pulaski (c. 1947), Sidney Waugh
- General Friedrich von Steuben (c. 1947), Warren Wheelock
- Marquis de Lafayette (c. 1947), Raoul Josset
- John Paul Jones (1957), Walker Hancock
- General Nathanael Greene (c. 1960), Lewis Iselin, Jr.
This artwork is part of the Around the Philadelphia Museum of Art tour
