Statue of the Republic, Chicago, Illinois, Elevation and Plan

Republic, a 65-foot-tall, gilt statue by Daniel Chester French was the centerpiece of the neoclassical Court of Honor at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Although the White City, as the court was popularly known, was designed to be a temporary fairground, its picturesque and monumental order 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 that would impart a visual order to the city, with wide, uniform boulevards leading to distinctive civic monuments, like the 1893 statue, which was reproduced at a reduced scale as a permanent monument in Jackson Park after the fair.