Nathan Phillips Square

1Peace Through Valour

Ken Lum, 2016

Sculpture · bronze

This monument honours the Canadian soldiers who fought in the Italian Campaign in WWII. The Peace Through Valour Monument presents the 3D printed bronze topographical map of the town of Ortona, where Canadian soldiers fought the fiercest battle in the Italian Campaign, and achieved one of the greatest victories in WWII. Ortona was a beautiful medieval town on the Adriatic Sea that was reduced to ruin upon the conclusion of the campaign. The renowned Canadian artist Charles Comfort made several paintings of the destroyed Ortona, and it is from these paintings that the artist Ken Lum drew his inspiration and ideas. At each of the four corners of the map a bronze statue of a Canadian soldier stands in vigil, as if contemplating the cost of freedom regained in war. The Peace Through Valour Monument was donated to the City of Toronto by Villa Charities and the Italian Community.

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art

2Roman Column

Unknown, 1967

Sculpture · Painted Steel

As the inscription on the marble tablet explains: This unique column was presented in 1957 to Mayor Nathan Phillips, Q.C., by the Hon. Umberto Tupini, Mayor of the City of Rome as a token of friendship between the Citizens of Rome and Toronto. The column is granite (lapis syonites) known to have been quarried in Egypt between 300 and 400 A.D. for a Roman building since destroyed. It was erected on this site with assistance of the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Men's Association of Toronto and accepted by Mayor William Dennison in 1967.

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art

3Sun Dial, Toronto City Hall

G.R. Johnson and John Parker, 1969

Sculpture · Bronze

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art

4Turtle Sculpture

Solomon King

Sculpture · limestone

Source: OpenStreetMap

5Inuksuk

Henry Kudluk

Sculpture · stone

Source: OpenStreetMap

6Spirit Canoe

Tannis Nielsen

Sculpture · stainless_steel

Source: OpenStreetMap

7Three Way Disk No. 2 (The Archer)

Henry Moore, 1967

Sculpture · Bronze

The large abstract sculpture on Nathan Phillips Square in front of City Hall, usually known as "The Archer", was created by Henry Moore, one of the 20th century's most famous artists. In 1961 Viljo Revell, architect of Toronto's City Hall, approached Henry Moore to execute a sculpture for the civic square. Revell was acquainted with the artist and suggested that one of his works would complement the flowing lines of the building. The Archer was selected from a group of Moore's maquettes (small models). However, the proposed purchase of the work with public funds ($100,000) erupted into controversy and was defeated in council. Eventually Mayor Phil Givens raised the artist's fee with private money. Henry Moore was so moved by this gesture of support for the purchase of his sculpture that he donated more than 200 sculptures, drawings and graphics to the Art Gallery of Ontario. These pieces are now housed in the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre within the AGO.

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art

8TORONTO

Sign

Source: OpenStreetMap

9Statue

Source: OpenStreetMap

10Sir Winston Churchill

Oscar Nemon, 1977

Sculpture · bronze, masonry

This three-metre high, rough textured bronze statue is also known as the Winston Churchill Memorial. Prior to the revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square, it stood at the southwest corner of the square, and now sits in the area to the northwest known as Sculpture Court. The statue was donated to the City of Toronto by the late Henry R. Jackman in 1977 and is made from the original mould of a work by Oscar Nemon that stands in the Members Lobby in the British House of Commons.

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art

11Larry Sefton Memorial

Jerome Markson, 1977

Sculpture · Corten, masonry

Photo: City of Toronto. Source: City of Toronto Public Art