The Monument to Alexander Hamilton at Weehawken 1811 - 1816

Pavel Petrovich Svinin created this watercolor painting of the monument to Alexander Hamilton at Weehawken. The monument, a stark white obelisk, rises in memoriam, acting as a somber reminder of Hamilton’s untimely death. The obelisk itself is an ancient symbol, tracing back to Egyptian sun worship, representing stability, creation, and remembrance of the dead. Here, it stands as a neoclassical emblem, popular during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, connecting Hamilton to the virtues of classical antiquity. Consider the enduring presence of this symbol; from the monumental obelisks of ancient Egypt to their adaptation in European and American cemeteries. The obelisk transcends its original religious context, morphing into a symbol of collective memory. The form carries an emotional charge that speaks to our subconscious understanding of loss and commemoration. The image, therefore, captures not just a monument but the cyclical nature of symbols, each resonating with echoes of the past, continuously reshaped by the present.