Moses Ezekiel was a Jewish American sculptor who created many portrait busts, religious sculptures, and memorials. Born in the South, he fought in the battle of New Market as a Confederate sergeant in the Civil War. After the war, General Robert E. Lee encouraged him to become a sculptor and he attended the Virginia Military College and studied anatomy. Ezekiel traveled to Berlin and attended the Royal Academy of Art, where his work earned him praise and the financial means to set up a studio in Rome. He stayed there until his death, sculpting for patrons in Europe and America. Ezekiel was buried with honors in Arlington National Cemetery.
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