Casualty of war: a sculptor's provocative memorial acknowledges the high cost of conflict.

Publication: Smithsonian

Publication Date: 01-MAY-05

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In Venice, on the square in front of the grand Dominican Church of Saints John and Paul (Zannipoli, in the Venetian dialect), stands a colossal bronze statue of a 15th-century military leader, Bartolomeo Colleoni, a mercenary who led the republic's land forces when the city was at the height of its power. If it were not for the fact that Venice has few outdoor sculptures devoted to military figures, the looming equestrian statue would not be remarkable, as it is not much different from the thousands of other military statues that stand tall (or tall in the saddle) in most of the world's cities. In New York, on the slope of a hill in Central Park, Jagiello, a 15th-century Polish king and scourge of the Teutonic Knights, rises in the stirrups of his armored war horse, crossing two broadswords dramatically...

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