Description
The following thesis examines the equestrian Confederate monument and explores how the visual representation of the Lost Cause has impacted social constructs and ideology. Symbols of colonization and imperialism, such as the image of conqueror and horse, have endured throughout history and are now aligned with white supremacist ideologies as expressed by Confederate Monuments. The analysis will also consider how the symbolism of the equestrian Confederate monument has been challenged and rewritten by Kehinde Wiley’s Rumors of War. The analysis will focus on select examples of these monuments, both historical and re-represented, to determine their visual and cultural connotations. Two of the examples, now removed from their original locations in Richmond, Virginia, are the General Robert E. Lee Monument (Figure 1) by Antonin Mercié from 1890, and the General J.E.B Stuart monument (Figure 2) by Frederick Moynihan from 1907; and lastly, Rumors of War (Figure 3), by Kehinde Wiley from 2019. The Confederate monuments of Lee and Stuart, and Rumors of War will be examined through theories relating to representation and are as follows: Critical Race Theory, using theorists Franz Fanon and W.E.B Du Bois, and Erwin Panofsky’s interpretation and use of iconography.
Keywords: Equestrian Confederate monuments, Iconography, Critical Race Studies, The Lost Cause, General Robert E. Lee monument, General J.E.B Stuart monument, Kehinde Wiley
