The
ANZAC War Memorial is Sydney's main commemorative
military monument. Designed by C. Bruce
Dellit, completed in 1934 and adorned
with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures
by Rayner Hoff it is arguably the finest
Art Deco public building in Australia.
The memorial is located at the southern
extremity of Hyde Park on the eastern
edge of Sydney's central business district,
and it is the focus of commemoration ceremonies
on ANZAC Day, Armistice Day and other
important occasions. The building is constructed
of concrete, with an exterior cladding
of pink granite, and consists of a massed
square superstructure with typically Art
Deco set-backs and buttresses, punctuated
on each side by a large arched window
of yellow stained glass, and crowned with
a ziggurat-inspired stepped roof. It is
positioned atop a cruciform pedestal within
which are located administrative offices
and a small museum.
The
interior is largely faced in white marble,
and features a domed ceiling adorned with
120,000 gold stars - one for each of New
South Wales' military volunteers during
World War 1. Access to the main hall is
provided via broad stairways on each side
of the building's north-south axis, while
ground-level doorways on the east and
west sides offer entry to the lower section.
The main focus of the interior is Rayner
Hoff's monumental bronze sculpture of
a deceased youth, representing a soldier,
held aloft on his shield by three female
figures, representing his mother, sister
and wife. The male figure's nudity was
considered shocking at the time of the
monument's opening, and it is said to
be the only such representation of a naked
male form within any war memorial. Two
other even more controversial figural
sculptures designed by Hoff - one featuring
a naked female figure - were never installed
on the eastern and western faces of the
structure as intended, partly as a result
of opposition from high ranking local
Catholic Church representatives.
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