Throughout all ages man has always carved colossal (巨大的) figures out of stone. This can be seen in the ancient ruins of Egypt, Persia and Babylon. In modern times America has also taken up the same challenge and has carved huge sculptures into her mountains.
On the East Coast of America not far from Atlanta, Georgia stands Stone Mountain, the largest mass of exposed granite (花岗石) in the world. Carved into the side of this mountain are three tremendous equestrian figures. They are sculptures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall Jackson." It is a memorial to the Confederacy. The colossal figure of Lee alone measures 138 feet from the top of his head to the tip of his horse’s hoof. To see these stone sculptures on the side of a mountain is most impressive and inspiring. It was commissioned in 1916 and was begun by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore, but was not completed until 1969 by Walter K. Hancock.
In South Dakota, a western state., is located another achievement of man’s ability to shape nature into his own image and the achievement is considered to be one of the great man-made wonders of the modern world. It is located in the Black Hills in the southwestern part of the state. It is called the "Shrine of Democracy" at Mount Rushmore about twenty-five miles from Rapid City. It is visible for 97 kilometers.
This monument was conceived by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum and was begun in 1927. He was born in Idaho and his first commission was a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. This piece in stone consists of the faces of four U. S. presidents which are 60 feet high each. The monument took 14 years to complete and ranks as one of the great sculptures of the world equal to the colossal figures of gods and kings found in Egyptian temples and tombs. Some have argued that a fifth face should be carved next to the existing four, but this would be impossible because the stone on the rest of the mountain is not of good quality for carving.
A trip to America would not be complete without viewing one of these monuments. Their size, scope and grandeur stand as a testimony(证明)to both art and technology and the grandeur of America.
What do we know about Gutzon Borglum