Ezekiel, Moses Jacob, 1844-1917

American sculptor.

Sculptor, Rome, Italy.

Born in Richmond, Va., of a Sephardic Jewish family, Ezekiel was educated at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. Fought with the Confederates in the Civil War. In 1869, he went to Berlin to study at the Royal Art Academy, and he met with great success, winning a prize that allowed him to study in Rome, where he resided permanently. His studio in Rome was in the Diocletian baths.

Moses Jacob Ezekiel was born in Richmond, Virginia on October 28, 1844. He was the sixth child of Jacob and Catherine de Castro Ezekiel. In 1861 Moses Ezekiel entered the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and during the Civil War fought in the VMI Cadet batallion. In 1868, after studying anatomy at the Medical College of Virginia for one year, Ezekiel came to Cincinnati to study art. In 1869 he entered the Royal Academy of Art in Berlin, Germany. On the merits of his bust of George Washington, Ezekiel was admitted into the Berlin Society of Artists. In 1873 Ezekiel became the first non-German to win the Michael Beer prize.

Throughout his life, Ezekiel was a prolific sculptor and, fortunately, many of his works have been preserved. In 1874 the B'nai B'rith commissioned Ezekiel to execute a marble group for presentation at the U.S. centennial in 1876. (This marble group, Religious Liberty, is now on permanent display at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia). In 1912 Ezekiel's Confederate memorial monument, New Southern, was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery. Included among his other works are statues and busts of Franz Liszt, Cardinal Gustav Adolf Hohenlohe, Eve, Homer, David, Jesus, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Isaac Mayer Wise, and Edgar Allen Poe.

During his lifetime, Ezekiel was widely acclaimed and honored for his sculptures. He received knighthood from both Germany and Italy. He was awarded the Crosses of Merit and Art from the Emperor of Germany. The Italian rank of chavalier was bestowed upon him by King Victor Emanuel and the title of Officer of the Crown of Italy by King Humbert. He received the Raphael Medal of Urbino, a silver medal from the St. Louis World Exposition, several medals from the Royal Art Association of Palermo as well as numerous other honorary medals and membership in art institutes and societies across the world.

During World War I Ezekiel participated in the formation of the American-Italian Red Cross Relief Committee.

In 1917 Moses Jacob Ezekiel died in Rome, Italy. Due to the war and its political aftermath, his body was not returned to the United States until 1921. Ezekiel's grave is in Arlington Cemetery, near the site of his memorial sculpture, New Southern .