Moses Jacob Ezekiel

Moses Jacob Ezekiel
Ezekiel in 1914
Born(1844-10-28)October 28, 1844
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
DiedMarch 27, 1917(1917-03-27) (aged 72)
Rome, Kingdom of Italy
NationalityAmerican
EducationVirginia Military Institute
Known forSculpture
AwardsNew Market Cross of Honor

Moses Jacob Ezekiel, also known as Moses "Ritter von" Ezekiel (October 28, 1844 – March 27, 1917), was an American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome for the majority of his career. Ezekiel was "the first American-born Jewish artist to receive international acclaim".[1][2] Ezekiel was an ardent supporter, in both his writings and in his works, of the Lost Cause revisionist view of history.[3]

He was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, including at the Battle of New Market. [4]

After the war, he completed his degree at VMI, and a few years later went to Berlin, studying at the Prussian Academy of Art. He subsequently moved to Rome, where he lived and worked most of his life, selling his works internationally, including several commissions in the United States.

He has been described as a "Confederate expatriate"[5] and a "proud Southerner",[6] and the Confederate battle flag hung in his Rome studio for 40 years.[5] The most famous of his monuments is the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, which he thought of as the "crowning achievement of his career."[7] The monument was removed on December 20, 2023.[8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Nash (2014), p. xi.
  3. ^ "The Not-So Lost Cause of Moses Ezekiel". 21 September 2018.
  4. ^ Eisenfeld, Sue (February 2018). "Moses Ezekiel: Hidden in Plain Sight". Civil War Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  5. ^ a b Eisenfeld, Sue (February 2018). "Moses Ezekiel: Hidden in Plain Sight". Civil War Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Moment was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Eisenfeld, Sue (December 1, 2017). "Should We Remove Confederate Monuments—Even If They're Artistically Valuable?". The Forward. Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
  8. ^ https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Media/News/Post/13395/Confederate-Memorial-Removal-Update-and-Advisory [bare URL]