New Lee Statue Faces East

Harry, meet Robert.

“On its dizzy top stands the bronze figure of one of the worlds greatest captains. He is alone. Not one of his mighty lieutenants stand behind, beside or below him. His arms are folded on that breast that never knew fear, and his calm gaze meets the morning sun as it rises, like the new posperity of the land he loved and served so masterly, above the far distant battle fields where so many thousands of his gray veterans lie in the sleep of fallen heroes.”

The quotation above is taken from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, published in 1885–one year after the unveiling of the statue of General Robert E. Lee.

The sixteen-and-a-half-foot, 7,000 pound statue of Lee stands tall upon a glittering column of white marble in the middle of Lee Circle, facing north.

It is, without a doubt, our fair city’s most prominent monument in one of its most prominent places, the route of streetcars, the best Mardi Gras parades, and more than the occasional touris

Recently, the proud city of Metairie, Louisiana, unveiled a similar shrine to one of her dauntless heroes of days gone by. One year after his death, Jefferson Parish unveiled a bronze statue of 27-year Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee.

Lee, shrouded in racial politics throughout much of his late career, died at 75 of leukemia.

The bronze sculpture, replete with cowboy hat, will grace a particularly austere stretch of Veterans Boulvevard and calls to mind the obelisk at the Place de l’Etoile on the Champes Elysees in Paris.

Like Lee himself, this new landmark stands upright unabashedly. Time, the cruelest amnesiac, will not erode Metairie’s brilliant version of Lady Liberty. Time will not fade this bastion of hope.

Though the monument is not on the same scale of the great pyramids of Egypt, the mystery factor has locals and tourists alike buzzing about the new “American Sphinx.”

The Times-Picaune reported that it was crafted in China. Adding myth on top of mystery on top of rumor, The artist’s name is unknown.

The form itself, virtually a Rodin, will surely become one of The Parish’s most prized pieces of art.

A tribute to the virtues of justice and man’s other high pursuits, the likeness can be said to surpass the accuracy of Phildelphia’s “Rocky,” the beauty of Florence’s “David,” and the feeling of awe a viewer gets upon first seeing Easter Island’s “Heads.”

The unveiling ceremony was a successful event. Family, society, law makers and news media showed up in full force. The protective tarpaulin was removed as the strains of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” blasted on nearby loudspeakers.

Veterans Highway was vastly beautiful on the day of the dedication. One of the principal tourist destinations in Metarie, the lower part of “Vets” is bordered by greenery, cafes, cinemas, luxury specialty shops, and Lager’s International Grill and Ale House

Locals are confident that the placement of the new “Lee” here in Soho South will augment the already picturesque urban environs.