Public Art Details
Police Memorial
Artist: Rudolph Torrini
Region: Downtown St. Louis
Location: Ward 7 - Civil Courts Plaza
Address: Market St at Tucker Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63101
Artist Bio:
b. 1927
Dimensions: 10' x 4' x 4'
Year completed: 1988
Material: Bronze and granite
Owner: City of St. Louis
Donor: Public and private donors
Description:
Torrini studied sculpture at Washington University in St. Louis and graduated with a BFA in 1949. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Italy and received an MFA from the University of Notre Dame in 1958. He taught at Webster University in St. Louis for 17 years and is currently Professor Emeritus at Fontbonne College in St. Louis, where he was chairman of the art department for 35 years.
Police Memorial involved a campaign that took more than twenty years to finance and that was initiated by a childhood friend of a slain police officer who wanted to dedicate a statue to St. Louis policemen killed in the line of duty. The twelve-foot statue would rise above a pedestal bearing the names of lost officers. The collective effort of police officials, businessmen, and civic leaders made the statue a reality.
Although the Regional Arts Commission was initially concerned that the backdrop of a thirteen-story building would lessen the impact of Police Memorial, the statue nonetheless currently stands in front of the Civil Courts Building in downtown St. Louis. The inscription on the front of the memorial reads, “In memory of the Saint Louis police officers who have given their lives in the performance of their duty.” The back of the pedestal is inscribed with "Let the well-being of the people be the supreme law."
