Around 478 BCE, Polyzalos, the Tyrant of Gela in Sicily, commissioned a statue to express his gratitude to the god Apollo for his charioteer’s victory in the Pythian Games. The cast near Philadelphia’s Museum of Art was a gift from the Greek government.

A memorial to the French heroine, the French community in Philadelphia sought the aid of the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) to commemorate their centennial.

The artist, Sardinian-born Albino Manca, chose to represent this fierce and commanding cat posed in a defensive position – perhaps warding off its main predator and enemy – man.

Considered one of the masterpieces of antiquity, this sculptural group was originally carved in marble by Praxiteles, a renowned ancient Greek Attic sculptor.

A labrador black granite puma by Lithuanian artist William Zorach sits in the Azalea Garden behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Eight wedges of painted weathering steel by artist Robert Morris form a rounded square on the grass near Kelly Drive.

Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the nation to erect a monument to Lincoln after he was assassinated.

The New England Society of Pennsylvanians asked Augustus Saint-Gaudens to make a replica of “The Puritan” located in Springfield, Massachusetts for the city of Philadelphia. Gaudens made some changes in the figure’s dress and adjusted the facial characteristics for “The Pilgrim.”

The Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) commissioned John J. Boyle to create a Native American sculpture for Fairmount Park. At its current site, Stone Age in America takes its place with other sculptures “emblematic” of American history.

Originally commissioned and presented by Socrates Sculpture Park in New York, “Steel Bodies” is the first contemporary public art exhibition at the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial, and Maren Hassinger’s first outdoor sculpture exhibition in Philadelphia. Ten large-scale metal vessel sculptures have been installed throughout the memorial, juxtaposed against the existing figurative artworks and landscape.

The Association for Public Art established and maintains the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial. The Memorial includes three terraces and seventeen sculptures that were commissioned over a period of thirty years.

Following the assassination of James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States, the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) established a fund to create a fitting memorial.

Intrigued by the interaction of the cowboy and his horse, Frederic Remington found inspiration in the roughriders of the American West.

Three slim angels concentrate raptly on their music as they hover above the grass along Kelly Drive. The work of Swedish-born artist Carl Milles, they are casts from a group of originals from the Millesgården in Stockholm, Sweden.

Poet Stephen Berg and visual artist Tom Chimes describe Sleeping Woman as a “choral voice rising out of the site.” The collaborative work was created specifically for its location along the Schuylkill River.

Just four days after the death of General Grant in 1885, the Fairmount Park Art Association (now the Association for Public Art) formed a committee to create a fund for erecting an appropriate memorial.

A monument to great champion oarsman John B. Kelly, Sr. along the Schuylkill River, erected by the Friends of Jack Kelly.

Laurel Hill Cemetery was founded in 1836 as a nonsectarian alternative to Philadelphia’s crowded, inner-city churchyards of the early nineteenth century. The work of noted sculptors and architects adorn the grounds.