Military Courage

While studying in Italy from 1859 to 1863, Dubois was profoundly influenced by Italian Renaissance sculpture. This work was inspired by Michelangelo's statue from the tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence. Dubois originally sculpted this piece along with "Charity, Meditation, and Faith" as the corner statues for the tomb erected in the cathedral of Nantes, France, for General Jucault de Lamoricière (1806-65), a commander of the French army in North Africa. The Barbedienne foundry later issued this sculpture in various sizes. A life-size version, donated to Baltimore by William T. Walters in 1885, stands in the Mount Vernon Place.