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U.S. Capitol, Statue of Freedom, Intersection of North, South, & East Capitol Streets & Capitol Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

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U.S. Capitol, Statue of Freedom, Intersection of North, South, & East Capitol Streets & Capitol Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

description

Summary

Significance: The bronze Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford is the crowning feature of the dome of the United States Capitol. The statue is a classical female figure of Freedom wearing flowing draperies. Her right hand rests upon the hilt of a sheathed sword; her left holds a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with thirteen stripes. Her helmet is encircled by stars and features a crest composed of an eagle's head, feathers, and talons, a reference to the costume of Native Americans. A brooch inscribed "U.S." secures her fringed robes. She stands on a cast-iron globe encircled with the national motto, E Pluribus Unum. The lower part of the base is decorated with fasces and wreaths. Ten bronze points tipped with platinum are attached to her headdress, shoulders, and shield for protection from lightning. The bronze statue stands 19 feet 6 inches tall and weighs approximately 15,000 pounds. A monumental statue for the top of the national Capitol appeared in Architect Thomas U. Walter's original drawing for the new cast-iron dome, which was authorized in 1855. Walter's drawing showed the outline of a statue representing Liberty; Crawford proposed an allegorical figure of "Freedom triumphant in War and Peace." Crawford was commissioned to design the Statue of Freedom in 1855 and executed the plaster model for the statue in his studio in Rome. He died in 1857 before the model left his studio. The model, packed into six crates, was shipped from Italy in 1858, arriving after some delay in March of 1859. Beginning in 1860, the statue was cast in five main sections by Clark Mills, and finished by the end of 1862. It was temporarily displayed on the Capitol grounds. The cost of the statue, exclusive of installation, was $23,796.82. Late in 1863, construction of the dome was sufficiently advanced for the installation of the statue, which was hoisted in sections and assembled atop the cast-iron pedestal. The final section, the figure's head and shoulders, was raised on December 2, 1863, to a salute of 35 guns answered by the guns of the 12 forts around Washington. On May 9, 1993, the statue was removed from its pedestal by helicopter for restoration. The work was needed because of extensive pitting and corrosion on the surface of the bronze and because of a crack and rusting on the cast-iron pedestal.
Survey number: HABS DC-38-C
Building/structure dates: 1855 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1863 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1993 Subsequent Work

date_range

Date

1933 - 1970
person

Contributors

Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
Crawford, Thomas
Mills, Clark
Walter, Thomas U
Price, Virginia B, transmitter
place

Location

Washington, District of Columbia, United States38.90719, -77.03687
Google Map of 38.9071923, -77.0368707
create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html

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