Statue: iron, painted rust red; Base: sandstone, marble, and cement
Type:
Sculptures-Logo
Sculptures-Outdoor Sculpture
Sculptures
Owner/Location:
Administered by City of Birmingham Parks & Recreation 400 Graymont Avenue Birmingham Alabama 35204
Located Vulcan Park On top of Red Mountain Birmingham Alabama
Date:
Commissioned Nov. 24, 1903. Cast March-May 1904. Dedicated June 7, 1904. Relocated late 1930s
Notes:
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Alabama survey, 1993.
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985.
Thompson, George Clinton, "Vulcan: Birmingham's Man of Iron," in Alabama Heritage, Spring 1991, pg. 2-33.
Morris, Philip A., "Vulcan & His Times," Birmingham Historical Society, 1995.
SOS Assessment Award, 1999.
SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 2000.
Image on file.
Chicago Tribune, Feb. 14, 1904.
Louisiana Purchase International Exhibition, St. Louis, 1904.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Full-length standing mythological figure of the Vulcan, Roman god of the forge. He is depicted as a smithy, wearing a forger's apron and Roman-style laced sandals. He is bearded and looks up at a torch he bears in his proper right hand. In his proper left hand, he holds a hammer that rests on an anvil. The statue stands atop a tall pedestal that includes an elevator and observation tower.
