The United States of America, being such a young country, historically speaking, has monuments, yes – but outside of perhaps New York City and Washington DC, the glittering neon of Las Vegas with it’s replicas of other famous monuments (I’m looking at you, Eiffel Tower), isn’t exactly… well, let’s just say people don’t visit the states for the monuments… or any monument for that matter.
In a small piece from i09 called “The Historic American Monument That Was Never Built” [1] by columnist Annalee Newitz, she uncovers an.. interesting American monument that was meant to be built but never was.
Newitz writes:
This is how one painter imagined the perfect American monument, in the 1860s. He called it “Historical Monument of the American Republic.”
Erastus Salisbury Field [2] (1805-1900) was a portrait artist and painter in the United States. Though he was famous for painting portraits at top speed, he worked on this particular painting for 21 years, from 1867 to 1888. It’s a fanciful image that combines famous American landmarks and architecture into one citiscape.
Here it is, in all of it’s glory – what do you think?
SOURCE
[1] http://io9.com/the-historic-american-monument-that-was-never-built-1667506036
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erastus_Salisbury_Field
[3] http://archimaps.tumblr.com/post/77434952076/erastus-salisbury-fields-historical-monument-of