What does the Statue on top of the Capitol represent?

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.



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The Statue of Freedom on the National Capitol, the Statue of Liberty and the Pallas Athena from ancient Greece all likely served as inspiration for Myer's design. The Goddess of Liberty just before crews hoisted her to the top of the Capitol, February 1888.

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It is the Mother of Exiles, greeting millions of immigrants and embodying hope and opportunity for those seeking a better life in America. It stirs the desire for freedom in people all over the world. It represents the United States itself.

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The statue thus embodies the three principal figures produced by the new nation—the African American, the American Indian, and the white woman; these Others coalesced in Crawford's statue and in Davis's own vision of white superiority that he insisted be represented in the U.S. Capitol dome statue, resulting in a ...

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The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people commemorating the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution. Yet, it represented much more to those individuals who proposed the gift. A photograph of Edouard de Laboulaye from the Galerie Contemporaine collection.

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The statue represents a Roman Goddess The statue's name derives from the Goddess it represents; Libertas, a Roman deity personifying freedom. Libertas appears on Roman coins from the period of Julius Caesar's assassination, supporting the Republic. Here, you're free to click and point to approach the statue by water.

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In 1865, a French political intellectual and anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye proposed that a statue representing liberty be built for the United States. This monument would honor the United States' centennial of independence and the friendship with France.

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Why does the Statue of Freedom face east, away from the National Mall? The Capitol's East Front was planned, and still serves, as its principal entrance (being the only front on level ground), and the statue faces those who arrive from this direction.

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Designed by Elijah E. Myers, the architect of the State Capitol Building, and hoisted to the top of the dome in 1888, the Goddess of Liberty as she was known was said to represent truth and justice. But by 1985 it had become clear the statue had badly deteriorated after nearly 100 years of exposure to the elements.

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Perhaps the most prominent sculpture depicting women in the Capitol is the Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. Located in the Capitol Rotunda, this piece was added to the Capitol collection in 1921 as a gift from the National Women's Party.

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The Basics. Painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi, the Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the U.S. Capitol Building's Rotunda depicts George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame and surrounded by six groups of figures.

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The Statue of Liberty is located in New York on Liberty Island. It is a statue of a woman holding a torch in her right hand and a tablet in her left hand with the date of the Declaration of Independence in Roman numerals: July 4, 1776.

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As a national symbol, the image of the Statue of Liberty becomes synonymous with the American ideals of equality, democracy and freedom, represented in the museum collection by numerous artifacts and works of art.

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25 Facts to Celebrate the Statue of Liberty
  • The statue's full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
  • It was a gift from France given to America in 1886.
  • The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
  • The statue measures 93 meters and weighs 204 metric tons.


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The French paid for the statue and its transportation, the Americans for the pedestal and installation. In 1875, Bartholdi completed the torch-bearing arm first and exhibited it at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. He exhibited the head at the World's Fair in Paris in 1878.

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At two and one-half times life size, the figure of Grant mounted on his horse forms the monument's apex atop a pedestal that is over twenty-two feet high.

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The construction of the U.S. Capitol Building began in 1793, and for over a century it was the only building created for the use of the nation's legislature. In fact, the Capitol initially housed not only the Congress but also the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the district courts and other offices.

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