The Sun Singer

Monticello, Illinois, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Sun Singer is a 15-foot bronze figure of the Greek god Apollo by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, a copy of his Stockholm harbour original. It stands on a round base in a meadow at Allerton Park, near Monticello, Illinois, and was set in place in 1932.

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The Sun Singer

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Site-level location · 39.9982° N, 88.6461° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

The Sun Singer is a bronze Apollo, arms stretched to the sky, standing alone in a meadow at the far end of Allerton Park, and he is there because of a misunderstanding about size.

The University of Illinois, which owns the park, says the work is by Carl Milles and stands 15 feet 2 inches high. It is one of three Sun Singer statues by Milles: one in Stockholm, commissioned in 1919, one in National Memorial Park near Falls Church, Virginia, and this one. The park describes Apollo as a nude youth greeting the morning sky with song, with the winged horse Pegasus on his helmet and a tortoise under his right foot; on the base, low reliefs show the nine Muses.

According to the park, Robert Allerton saw the Stockholm original in 1929 and went to Milles's studio to commission a reduced-scale version. Language difficulties led to a misunderstanding about size, and the full-size figure arrived from Sweden. A News-Gazette account quoting the park's interim director says Allerton believed he had ordered a six-foot copy.

Allerton's plan to place it near the house was dropped, and in 1932 it was set in a circular base in the meadow, after two farmhouses were moved to clear the site. The park credits the landscaping, and a base adapted from the Altar of Heaven in Peking, to John Allerton. A University of Illinois news article says it faces east, was raised with pulleys and hand cranks, and was renovated in 2007.

Allerton Park lists free admission and parking, sunrise to sunset. A 2018 alumni article said visitors could arrive by car and circle the statue without leaving it.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The statue stands on its own in a wide meadow clearing, facing east. Allerton Park (University of Illinois) lists free admission and parking, sunrise to sunset. A 2018 alumni article said visitors could circle the statue by car; astronomy groups held public stargazing evenings there in 2024.

ACCESS

Allerton Park and Retreat Center, 515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, Illinois. The statue is at the far end of the estate. The park's website (2026) lists free admission and parking, open sunrise to sunset.

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