Karl Bitter’s equestrian statue of General Franz Sigel, Riverside Park, 1907.

Bitter, a Viennese-born architectural sculptor, rose to prominence after winning a design contest for Trinity Church bronzework, and became a frequent collaborator of the prominent architect Richard Morris Hunt. Sadly, Bitter’s career came to a premature end in 1915, when he was struck and killed by an out-of-control car as he exited the Metropolitan Opera.

This statue, completed in 1907, depicts General Franz Sigel, a German-born veteran of the Civil War, and later a civil servant in New York City.