Apotheosis of Democracy
Encyclopedia
Apotheosis of Democracy is a public artwork by American sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett
Paul Wayland Bartlett was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic and sculptor....

, located on the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

 House of Representatives portico's east front in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. This sculpture was surveyed in 1993 as part of the Smithsonian's
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture!
Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. By fostering awareness and appreciation, SOS! aims to advocate proper care of a nationwide public resource....

 program.

Description

The pediment's
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...

 center focal point is the figure of allegorical Peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...

, which is dressed in armor and is depicted protecting Genius
Genius (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion, the genius was the individual instance of a general divine nature that is present in every individual person, place or thing.-Nature of the genius:...

. Leaning against Peace's proper right leg, Genius holds a torch that symbolizes immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...

 in his proper right hand. Peace stands in front of an olive tree
Olive Tree
The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left Italian political coalitions from 1995 to 2007.The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former leftist Christian Democrat, who invented the name and the symbol of...

. To Peace's proper left is a figure of Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, and next to that figure is a reaper
Reaper
A reaper is a person or machine that reaps crops at harvest, when they are ripe.-Hand reaping:Hand reaping is done by various means, including plucking the ears of grains directly by hand, cutting the grain stalks with a sickle, cutting them with a scythe, or with a later type of scythe called a...

 with his assistant, a farmer with his bull
Bull
Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...

, a putti carrying grapes, and a mother with her child who plays with a ram. To the proper right of Peace is Industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

, and next to him is a printmaker, an ironworker
Ironworker
Ironworker is a class of machines that can shear, notch, and punch holes in steel plate. Ironworkers generate force using mechanical advantage or hydraulic systems. Modern systems use hydraulic rams powered by a heavy alternating current electric motor. High strength carbon steel blades and dies...

, a founder, a factory girl and a fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...

. The corners of the pediment have waves, which represent the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and Pacific oceans
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. The pediment is made of Georgia marble.

Condition

In 1993 Apotheosis of Democracy was surveyed by art conservators from the Save Outdoor Sculpture! program and was described as "well maintained."

Acquisition, creation and installation

The original pediment was commissioned to Erastus Dow Palmer
Erastus Dow Palmer
Erastus Dow Palmer was an American sculptor.Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. In his leisure moments as a carpenter he started by carving portraits in cameo, and then began to model in clay with much success. His style was academic classicism...

 in 1857, however, the work was never completed due to lack of funding. Another competition was held in 1908 and Bartlett was chosen. The figures were modeled in Paris, France and Washington between the years of 1911-1914 and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers
Piccirilli Brothers
The Piccirilli Brothers were a family of renowned marble carvers who carved a large number of the most significant marble sculptures in the United States, including Daniel Chester French’s colossal Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.-History:In 1888, Giuseppe Piccirilli , a...

 from 1914-1916. The pediment was dedicated on August 2, 1916.

Related works

In March, 1963 plaster maquettes
Maquette
A maquette is a small scale model or rough draft of an unfinished architectural work or a sculpture...

 of the pediment were given to the U.S. Government by Bartlett's stepdaughter, Armistead Peter III. The works are on display in the Capitol underground hallway that heads to the Rayburn House Office Building
Rayburn House Office Building
The Rayburn House Office Building is a congressional office building for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C., between South Capitol Street and First Street....

.

As of 1995 a Study for Apotheosis of Democracy by Bartlett was in the collection of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Westmoreland Museum of American Art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania....

. A bronze sculpture (54 x 54.5 x 18) on a wooden base, it depicts Peace and Genius. It was purchased in 1959 and as of 1995 it was surveyed as needing urgent treatment.

Further Reading

  • Allen, William C. History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics. Architect of the Capitol, 2001. ISBN 0-16-050830-4
  • Somma, Thomas P. Paul Wayland Bartlett and The Apotheosis of democracy, 1908-1916 : the pediment for the House wing of the United States Capitol. University of Delaware Press, 1995. ISBN 0874135281
  • Wood, James M. Washington Sculpture. John Hopkins Press, 2008. ISBN 0801888107

External Links

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