Statue of Freedom
The Statue of Freedom , German Statue of Freedom , sometimes also called Armed Freedom ("Armed Freedom") or simply Freedom , is a bronze statue by Thomas Crawford that has crowned the top of the dome of the US Capitol in Washington, DC since 1863 . The original and official name is Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace . Official announcements from the United States state that "the statue is officially known as the Statue of Freedom ".
description
The Freedom is a symbolic female figure holding in her right hand a veiled sword in his left hand a victor's wreath of laurel and the shield of the United States with 13 strip. She wears a helmet that is decorated with stars and an eagle's head. A brooch with the inscription US - the U encompasses the S - secures her fringed garment. It stands on a cast-iron globe on which there is a national motto: E pluribus unum . The lower part of the base is decorated with fasces and wreaths . There are ten platinum-coated tips on the headdress and shoulders that serve as lightning protection. The bronze statue is 6 meters high and weighs approximately 6800 kg. Its top is 88 meters above the square on the east side.
history
In the original drawing by architect Thomas U. Walter, which was approved in 1855, there was an imposing statue for the new cast iron dome. Walter's drawing showed the outline of the goddess of freedom; Crawford designed the emblematic figure freedom triumphs over war and peace .
Crawford was commissioned to design the Statue of Freedom in 1854 and made the plaster model for the statue in his studio in Rome . He died in 1857 before the model left his studio. Packed in six boxes, the model left Italy in a small sailing ship. During the crossing the ship leaked and stopped in Gibraltar for repairs . After the ship left Gibraltar, it leaked again and only made it to Bermuda . The model was stored there until another means of transport could be obtained. Half of the boxes arrived in New York City in December , but it took until the end of March 1859 for all of the items to arrive in Washington, DC.
In early 1860, the statue was cast in five main sections by Clark Mills, whose bronze foundry was on the outskirts of Washington. Work was halted in 1861 because of the Civil War , but in late 1862 the statue was completed and was temporarily on display in the Capitol grounds. The cost of the statue, excluding assembly, was $ 23,796.82. By the end of 1863, construction work on the dome had progressed enough to mount the statue. It was lifted up in parts and put back together on the cast-iron base. The last part, the head and shoulders of the figure, was raised on December 2, 1863, accompanied by a gun salute from 35 rifles, which was returned by the rifles of the 12 forts around Washington.
While the Freedom was being poured at Mills Foundry, the foundry foreman went on strike. Instead of paying him more wages, Mills turned over the work to Philip Reid, one of the slaves who worked in the factory. Reid directed the rest of the casting and assembling the figure. The figure was placed at its destination on December 2, 1863.
On May 9, 1993, more than 130 years after erection, the statue was lifted from its pedestal by helicopter for restoration work. This gave tourists the chance to see the statue up close. The work had become necessary due to extensive pitting and corrosion on the outer skin of the bronze statue and a crack and rust on the cast-iron base. The work was carried out based on the recommendations of a study carried out in 1991 on the preservation of the statue. The United States Capitol Preservation Commission provided $ 780,000 of privately funded funds to cover all costs of the project. The work was carried out by the New Arts Foundry, from Baltimore, Maryland.
The cast iron pedestal has been restored on top of the dome. The metal was stripped of paint and the wreaths and faces were dismantled to ensure they could be fully cleaned and painted. The crack was permanently repaired and the entire pedestal was primed and painted with a paint that matches the statue in color. Since then, the statue has been checked, cleaned and, if necessary, repainted every 2 to 3 years.
The restoration of the statue and the pedestal were completed in four months. The Statue of Freedom returned to its pedestal with the help of a helicopter on October 23, 1993, amid the Capitol's 200th anniversary celebrations.
The plaster model of the statue, which had been in storage for 25 years, was reassembled and placed in the rotunda in the basement of the Russell Senate Office Building , where it was reopened to the public in January 1993. After the completion of the Capitol Visitor Center , the statue was placed in its Emancipation Hall. There, visitors can see the details of the statue up close.
In the original design, the statue wore a liberty cap , but Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (later President of the Confederate States of America ), who was responsible for its construction, refused to approve it. He informed the sculptor that he should remove the liberty cap and that otherwise the order would be given to someone else. Davis was a scholar of ancient Rome and knew that in Rome only freed slaves wore this cap. He didn't want a freed slave depicted on the Capitol dome. So the hat was replaced by the helmet with the American eagle when the statue was made. Many people think the statue is the image of an American Indian.
Using the Statue of Freedom
The statue's head is featured on a United States postage stamp. The brand was reissued in 2006. The Statue of Freedom is also featured on the back of the Iraq Campaign Medal . This is a medal honoring soldiers who fought in the 2003 Iraq War. The civil version of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal also shows the Statue of Freedom .
Individual evidence
- ↑ United States Architect of the Capitol : Compilation of Works of Art and Other Objects in the United States Capitol . United States Government Printing Office , Washington 1965, p. 364.
- ^ Gale, Robert L. Thomas Crawford: American Sculptor , University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 1964, p. 190
- ↑ AOC To Begin Move of Statue of Freedom Model into Capitol Visitor Center ( Memento of the original from June 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ PBS News Hour on Jan 16 ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (MP3; 2.3 MB)
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 53 '24 .4 " N , 77 ° 0' 32.4" W.