Christopher Columbus Statue at Journal Square
Photo: A. Selvaggio, 2003
Designed by sculptor Archimedes A. Giacomantonio (1905-1988) of Jersey City, the ten-foot bronze statue of Christopher Columbus, located at Journal Square, is mounted on a white marble shaft and was dedicated on October 15, 1950. Described as showing Columbus "in a militant pose, holding a cross in his left hand and pointing westward with his right," the statue honors the explorer and Italian-American residents of Jersey City.
Originally the statue was placed on one of the traffic islands on the Journal Square Bridge across from Loew's Theater. During the 1998 renovation of Journal Square, the Christopher Columbus statue was moved to the Journal Square Plaza at the southern entrance to the PATH Transportation Center.
Giacomantonio attended Dickinson High School and trained at the da Vinci Art School in New York and the Royal Academy in Rome, Italy. He later maintained a studio in Jersey City at 194 Fairview Avenue.
Among his works, Giacomantonio sculpted the statue of Abraham Lincoln, "The Rail Splitter" (1925) for the lobby of Lincoln High School, "The Police Monument" (1935) at Montgomery Street near Marin Boulevard, and "The Wounded Soldier" (1947). President Harry Truman commissioned the artist to sculpt a statue of Woodrow Wilson for the Truman Library in Missouri.
"23 Foot High Bronze Replica of Columbus Unveiled Here." Jersey Journal 16 October 1950.
Gomez, John. Legendary Locals of Jersey City. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2014.
