Schuylkill River Trail - Detour Franklin Parkway

The morning bike ride along the Schuylkill River Trail included a detour down the Franklin Parkway and back to the Art Museum. The area is rich in outdoor sculpture. What follows is just a sampling.

In the park across from the Franklin Institute is Pennsylvania's "All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors" (J. Otto Schweizer, 1927), which was moved from an obscure location in Fairmont Park to this prominent position in 1994. Six soldiers and sailors are grouped around a figure of justice beneath a symbolic Torch of Life that is guarded by American eagles.

All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors

All Wars Memorial ... (detail)

Nearby, in the middle of Logan Circle, in the Fountain of the Three Rivers" (aka, Swann Fountain)by Alexander Stirling Calder, 1920.  I posted photos of the fountain on February 26. Now in mid-summer, the water is turned on, and the fountain acquires an ever changing characters as sun mixes with the water and mist. In the first photo, immediately behind the central column of water, is the tower of city hall.

Fountain of the Three Rivers

Fountain of the Three Rivers - detail - Delaware River

Fountain of the Three Rivers - detail

Fountain of the Three Rivers

Fountain of the Three Rivers - detail - Schuylkill River

Returning north along Franklin Boulevard, is the Rodin Museum, in front of which Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker" perpetually ponders the mysteries of life.

"The Thinker,"

The road which continues around the side of the Museum is Kelly Drive. Easily overlooked along the way is "Silenus with the Infant Bacchus." The original by Praxiteles, 4th cen BCE is in the Louvre. This casting was made in 1895 and purchased by the Fairmount Park Art Association.

"Silenus and the Infant Bacchus"

"Silenus and the Infant Bacchus" - detail.

At Kelly Drive and Sedgely Drive in the "Abraham Lincoln Memorial" by Randolph Ragers, 1871.

"Abraham Lincoln Memorial"

"Abraham Lincoln Memorial" - detail