Moses Jacob Ezekiel

Moses Jacob Ezekiel, also known as Moses "Ritter von" Ezekiel, was an American sculptor who lived and worked in Rome for the majority of his career. Ezekiel was "the first American-born Jewish artist to receive international acclaim."
Among his numerous honors and prizes was the title of Cavaliere given by the Italian government. At the age of 29, Ezekiel was the first foreigner to win the Michel-Beer Prix de Rome.
He had been a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and served on the Confederate side in the American Civil War, including at the Battle of New Market. He is the only well-known sculptor to have seen action in the Civil War.
After the war, he completed his degree at VMI, and a few years later went to Berlin, where he studied at the Prussian Academy of Art. He moved to Rome, where he lived and worked most of his life, selling his works internationally, including as commissions in the United States. He has been described as a "Confederate expatriate".
Ezekiel was a "proud Southerner", and the Confederate battle flag hung in his Rome studio for 40 years. He was a postwar friend of Robert E. Lee, who recommended he become "an artist".