Statue of the Republic, Chicago, Illinois, Elevation of a Reduced-Scale Copy

Republic, a 65-foot-tall gilt statue by Daniel Chester French, was the centerpiece of the Court of Honor at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, surrounded by the ornate neoclassical structures and colonnades of the fair buildings. After the exposition the temporary sculpture was reproduced at a reduced scale as a permanent monument in Jackson Park. Although the White City, as the court was popularly known, was designed to be a temporary fairground, it had a lasting impact on the history of city planning and helped to launch the City Beautiful movement across the United States. Reacting to the chaotic plan of early industrial cities, proponents of this movement advocated for comprehensive planning and visual compositions in the city, with wide, uniform boulevards leading to distinctive monuments, such as the design of the Court of Honor. Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of the fair, was one of the leaders of this movement, and his subsequent planning work capitalized on the visual impact of monument to shape the modern city.