However, when Meigs sent him a copy of the drawing for the dome, Crawford realized that his statue needed to be taller and stand upon a more prominent pedestal. He described his first design with a female figure wearing a wreath of wheat and laurel as "Freedom triumphant-in Peace and War." Victories and Liberties are rather pagan emblems, but a Liberty I fear is the best we can get."Ĭrawford ended up creating a series of three maquettes (preliminary small models) several feet high and sending photographs of them to Meigs for approval. Regarding its subject, Meigs wrote, "We have too many Washingtons, we have America in the pediment. On May 11, 1855, Meigs wrote to the artist at his studio to commission the statue for the dome. His portrait statues and groups of classical and historical figures had earned him a reputation as both talented and prolific. Born in New York City, Crawford had established a studio in Rome. He also had Crawford make models for the two bronze doors and for the figures of Justice and History over the Senate door. Walter's first drawing showed a 16-foot statue holding a liberty cap on the long rod with which a slave would be symbolically touched during a ceremony bestowing his freedom in ancient Rome.Ĭonstruction Superintendent Captain Montgomery Meigs, who was overseeing the artistic decoration of the Capitol extensions, had already engaged American sculptor Thomas Crawford to create other sculptures for the building, including the Senate pediment. Walter's original design for a new cast-iron dome, which was authorized by Congress in 1855. Background & Design ProcessĪ monumental statue for the top of the national Capitol was part of Architect Thomas U. The story of her casting reveals that some of the people who worked to create Freedom were not themselves free. The history of the statue's design explains why she wears a helmet rather than a liberty cap. The Statue of Freedom's crested helmet and sword, suggesting she is prepared to protect the nation, are more commonly associated with Minerva or Bellona, Roman goddesses of war. The knit cap provided to freed slaves in ancient Rome had been adopted as the symbol of liberty or freedom during the American and French Revolutions and was usually shown as red. Statue of Freedom does not wear or hold a knitted liberty cap, as would have been expected in nineteenth-century art. The crest of Freedom’s headdress rises 288 feet above the East Front Plaza. The pedestal is 18-1/2 feet high and almost doubles the total height. The lower part of the pedestal is decorated with fasces (symbols of the authority of government) and wreaths. She stands on a cast-iron pedestal topped with a globe encircled with the motto E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one). The helmet is encircled by nine stars. Ten bronze points tipped with platinum are attached to her headdress, shoulders and shield for protection from lightning. Her right hand rests upon the hilt of a sheathed sword wrapped in a scarf in her left hand she holds a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with 13 stripes. She wears a classical dress secured with a brooch inscribed "U.S." Over it is draped a heavy, flowing, toga-like robe fringed with fur and decorative balls. Statue of Freedom is a classical female figure with long, flowing hair wearing a helmet with a crest composed of an eagle's head and feathers.
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