- CountryUS
- Town:MO Saint Louis
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Year of creation:1903
- Rider(s):Louis IX
(1214–1270) led the Seventh Crusade, a war waged in the Holy Land. Louis and his troops were defeated and captured, requiring a large ransom to secure their freedom. Despite losing the war, Louis returned to France with several sacred relics, which secured him a reputation as the model for a Christian king (at that time). Declared a saint in 1297, he remained a popular holy figure through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
- Sculptor(s):Niehaus, Charles
(1855 –1935) was an American sculptor.
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During the 1904 World’s Fair, a plaster statue of Louis IX, sculpted by Charles Henry Niehaus, was erected near the park’s entrance. After the fair, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company decided to present a bronze version of the sculpture to the City of St Louis. W. R. Hodges, whose bid was considerably lower than that of the disappointed Niehaus, cast the plaster in bronze. The statue served as a symbol of St Louis until the completion of the Gateway Arch in 1965.
