Bartolommeo Colleoni Clinton Park Images

Newspaper Articles

February 13, 1916 - Casting the Bronze for Newark's Greatest Statue

From Jule Spohn:

This magnificant equistrian statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni was given to the City of Newark by the famous German Brew Meister - Christian W. Feigenspan. The little park which runs along side of, and toward the back part of Lincoln Park near Clinton Ave, is called Clinton Park. It is right in front of the one of the old Feigenspan Mansions (the other is on High Street).

Here is the article which appeared in the Star Ledger on July 28, 1916.

"The Colleoni statue in Clinton Park will be unveiled Wednesday at 4 o'clock by Mrs. Christian W. Feigenspan, wife of the donor. Many Newarkers have returned from their summer homes in the country and at the shore to witness the ceremonies attending the presentation of the statue to the city. Mayor Raymond ws to have accepted the statue on behalf of the city, but as he has been confined to his home for several weeks by illness the duty devolved upon City Counsel Frazer."

"The presentation and address will be made by Supreme Court Justice Swayze. Selections by Voss' Band and vocal selections by Inez Allen Potter and Tom Daniel will be rednered as a part of the program. The invocation will be offered by the Rev Dr E. A. Wasson. Former Governor Murphy, chairman of the Committee of One Hundred, will also speak."

"The statue, which is in bronze, stands on a marble base, fifteen feet high, and is surrounded by a coping of bronze and marble. It is the only exact reproduction of the famous Colleoni statue ever made."

The original statue is in Venice.

Here is a write up of this famous man taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol 6, 1945:

COLLEONI, BARTOLOMMEO (1400-1475), Italian soldier of fortune, served the Venetian Republic for many years under Gonzaga and Francesco Sforaz. He defeated the Milanese at the battles of Brescia, Verona, and on Lake Garda. He transferred his services to the Milanese in 1443, but the suspicious nature of Visconti was awakened by his conduct, and he was imprisoned at Monza until the Duke died in 1447. He left the Milanese service in 1448, and returned to that of Venice; but dissatisfied at not having been appointed captain-general he again entered the Milanese service. The offer of increased pay brought him back once more to Venice, and in 1455 he was appointed captain-general for life. He died in 1475.