How does Statue of William the Silent elucidate its Description?
In 1928, the statue of William the Silent was installed at the western end of Voorhees Mall, a section of academic buildings on the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick. It is located along Seminary Place, a city street that flanks the western side of the Mall, and separates the Rutgers campus from that of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary. The statue is placed near several academic buildings, including the university's Graduate School of Education, Van Dyke Hall, and Milledoler Hall.According to the Smithsonian Institution's Art Inventories Catalog, the bronze sculpture is approximately 15 feet in height and installed on a square stone base approximately 6 feet in height. It is recorded as weighing 2,000 pounds. The sculpture depicts William the Silent standing:"...with his proper right hand raised to his chest, pointing with his index finger. He holds an open scroll with his proper left hand. A small dog sits at his feet on his proper right. William the Silent wears the clothes of a civilian magistrate of the 16th century. He has a moustache and a beard, and he wears a ruffled collar, an open ankle-length coat, a buttoned vest, and bloomers. The sculpture is mounted on a square base."
Each of the four side of the statue's square base is inscribed with incised letters:
Front: (facing east): WILLIAM THE SILENT / COUNT OF NASSAU / PRINCE OF ORANGE / MDXXXIII MDLXXXIV
Back (facing west): THE HOLLAND SOCIETY / OF NEW YORK / TO RUTGERS UNIVERSITY / MCMXXVIII
Right (facing south): FATHER OF HIS FATHERLAND / FOUNDER OF THE UNITED / STATES OF THE NETHERLANDS
Left (facing north): AS LONG AS HE LIVED / HE WAS THE GUIDING STAR / OF A WHOLE BRAVE NATION / AND WHEN HE DIED THE / LITTLE CHILDREN CRIED
The sculpture bears two inscriptions, a signed Founder's mark, near its base: "ROYER – STATUAIRE" and "FONDERIE NATLE DES BRONZES".
Graduate School of Education College Avenue Campus right Smithsonian Institution New Brunswick Theological Seminary Voorhees Mall William the Silent