Rumors of War

Richmond, Virginia

Sculpted by Kehinde Wiley, "Rumors of War" is a heroic equestrian statue of a young African-American man with dreadlocks in a ponytail, wearing ripped jeans, Nike high-tops, and a hoodie -- 27 feet high and 16 feet long. The bronze horse and rider stand atop a limestone pedestal outside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and, perhaps not coincidentally, next to the headquarters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was unveiled in Richmond on December 10, 2019.

The statue's heroic pose was modeled on a nearly identical 1907 equestrian statue of Confederate general JEB Stuart, which had stood only a little over a mile away from the new sculpture. The bronze Stuart was subsequently taken down on July 7, 2020. Rumors of War, without its counterpoint, is now on its own.