''Apotheosis of Democracy'' is a public artwork by American sculptor

Paul Wayland Bartlett Paul Wayland Bartlett (January 24, 1865 – September 20, 1925) was an American sculptor working in the Beaux-Arts tradition of heroic realism. Life Bartlett was born in New Haven, Connecticut, the son of Truman Howe Bartlett, an art critic a ...

, located on the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

House of Representatives portico's east front in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This sculpture was surveyed in 1993 as part of the Smithsonian's

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

program.

Description

The pediment's center focal point is the figure of allegorical

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

, which is dressed in armor and is depicted protecting

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabili ...

. Leaning against Peace's proper right leg, Genius holds a torch that symbolizes

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

in his proper right hand. Peace stands in front of an

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

. To Peace's proper left is a figure of

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

, and next to that figure is a

reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...

with his assistant, a farmer with his

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

, a

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

carrying

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

, and a mother with her child who plays with a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

. To the proper right of Peace is Industry, and next to him is a printmaker, an

ironworker An ironworker is a tradesman who works in the iron-working industry. Ironworkers assemble the structural framework in accordance with engineered drawings and install the metal support pieces for new buildings. They also repair and renovate o ...

, a founder, a factory girl and a

fisherman A fisher or fisherman 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 fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or rec ...

. The corners of the pediment have waves, which represent the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Pacific ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

s. The pediment is made of

Georgia marble Creole marble, also called Georgia creole or Georgia marble, is a marble from quarries in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. It is coarse-grained, displays a white or gray background while veins or clouds are black or dark blue. Based on th ...

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 (April 2, 1817March 9, 1904) was an American sculptor. Life Palmer was born in Pompey, New York. He was the second of nine children. He showed early artistic promise, and pursued his father's trade of carpentry. Palmer married ...

in 1857, however, the work was never completed due to lack of funding. Another competition was held in 1908 and Bartlett was chosen. Barlett signed the contract for the commission in February, 1909, and in January 1915 was described as being "engaged continuously since that time" in the task, amounting to six years of work. The figures were modeled in

Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and Washington in the years from 1911 to 1914, and were carved by the Piccirilli Brothers from 1914 to 1916. The pediment was dedicated on August 2, 1916.

Related works

In March, 1963 plaster

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

s 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 The Rayburn House Office Building (RHOB) 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. Rayburn is named after form ...

. As of 1995 a ''Study for Apotheosis of Democracy'' by Bartlett was in the collection of the

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. Art lover Mary Marchand Woods bequeathed her entire estate to ...

. 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.

References

External links

Art and Allegory from the U.S. Capitol Visitors CenterFurther detail on the Agriculture section of the pediment from the Architect of the CapitolHistorical Marker Database about the Capitol and ''Apotheosis''Smithsonian's documentation for the model of ''Agriculture''Smithsonian's documentation of the model for ''Industry''Smithsonian's documentation of the model for ''Peace Protecting Genius''
{{United States Congress United States Capitol statues Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C. 1916 sculptures Sculptures carved by the Piccirilli Brothers Marble sculptures in Washington, D.C. 1916 establishments in Washington, D.C. Sculptures of men in Washington, D.C. Sculptures of women in Washington, D.C. Allegorical sculptures in Washington, D.C. Cattle in art Water in art Peace monuments and memorials Pedimental sculpture