ABSTRACT
From the ordinary human being's need to memorialize individuals to society's acknowledgment of noble ideas and great achievements, art historian E. J. Johnson, chairman, Department of Art at Williams College, illustrates the breadth and richness of the ways in which monuments operate. He scans the broad spectrum of traditional as well as avant garde forms to illustrate the variety of monumental expression throughout the world from antiquity to modem times. James Ackerman, professor of Fine Arts (retired), Harvard University, discusses three major forms of public monuments in antiquity-the arch, the column, and the equestrian statueand their later adaptations. In view of their identification with autocratic power, he sees their demise as symbols a hopeful sign for the future of humanity.
