The Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Monument or Civil War Sailors Monument, stands on the grounds of 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...

 in Peace Circle

Peace Circle

Peace Circle is a traffic circle in Washington, D.C., located at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and First Street NW. At its center is Peace Monument, also known as the Naval Memorial. It is a monument to the naval deaths during the American Civil War. The monument is topped by the...

 at First Street, N.W., and Pennsylvania Avenue

Pennsylvania Avenue

Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...

, 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....

  The 44 foot (13.4 m) high white marble memorial

Memorial

A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....

 was erected in 1877-1878 to commemorate the naval deaths at sea during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Today it stands as part of a three-part sculptural group including the James A. Garfield Monument

James A. Garfield Monument

The James A. Garfield Monument stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in the circle at First Street, S.W., and Maryland Avenue, Washington, D.C. It is a memorial to President James A. Garfield, elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881 after serving only four months of his term, by a...

 and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

The Ulysses S. Grant Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring American Civil War general and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant...

.

At the top of the monument, facing west, stand two classically robed female figures. Grief holds her covered face against the shoulder of History

Clio

thumb|Clio—detail from [[The Art of Painting|The Allegory of Painting]] by [[Johannes Vermeer]]In Greek mythology, Clio or Kleio, is the muse of history. Like all the muses, she is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne...

 and weeps in mourning. History holds a stylus

Stylus

A stylus is a writing utensil, or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example in pottery. The word is also used for a computer accessory . It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern ballpoint pen. Many styli are heavily curved to be held more easily...

 and a tablet that was inscribed "They died that their country might live." Below Grief and History, another life-size classical female figure represents Victory

Victoria (mythology)

In ancient Roman religion, Victoria was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill...

, holding high a laurel wreath and carrying an oak branch, signifying strength. Below her are the infant Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

, the god of war, and the infant Neptune

Neptune (mythology)

Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...

, god of the sea. The shaft of the monument is decorated with wreaths, ribbons, and scallop

Scallop

A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...

 shells.

Facing the Capitol is Peace

Pax (mythology)

In Roman mythology, Pax [paqs] was recognized as a goddess during the rule of Augustus. On the Campus Martius, she had a temple called the Ara Pacis, and another temple on the Forum Pacis. She was depicted in art with olive branches, a cornucopia and a scepter...

, a classical figure draped from the waist down and holding an olive sprig. Below her are symbols of peace and industry. A dove, now missing and not documented in any known photographs, once nested upon a sheaf of wheat in a grouping of a cornucopia

Cornucopia

The cornucopia or horn of plenty is a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, nuts, other edibles, or wealth in some form...

, turned earth, and a sickle resting across a sword. Opposite, the symbols of science, literature, and art (including an angle, a gear, a book, and a pair of dividers) signify the progress of civilization that peace makes possible.

At the corners of the monument, four marble globes are visually supported by massive brackets. The fountain below, with a jet on each side, empties into a quatrefoil-shaped basin. Its inscription reads: "In memory of the officers, seamen and marines of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 who fell in defense of the Union and liberty of their country, 1861-1865."

The sculptor of the monument was Franklin Simmons

Franklin Simmons

Franklin Bachelder Simmons was a prominent American sculptor of the nineteenth century....

 (1839-1913), who was born in Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, where he became known for his portrait busts. He worked in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 after 1867, when he received the commission for a statue of Roger Williams

Roger Williams (theologian)

Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...

 for the National Statuary Hall

National Statuary Hall

National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the...

 collection

National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol comprises statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history...

. In all, he created four statues and three busts for the United States Capitol. The Peace Monument is an example of his idealized neoclassical sculpture.

The Peace Monument, first intended for Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, was conceived by Admiral David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter

David Dixon Porter was a member of one of the most distinguished families in the history of the United States Navy. Promoted as the second man to the rank of admiral, after his adoptive brother David G...

, who had commanded fleets of gunboats and troop transports during the war. Porter first sketched a simple design depicting Grief and History; beginning in 1865, he raised funds from private contributors, and the monument was commissioned from Simmons in 1871. The sculptor carved the Carrara marble in Rome and worked directly with Admiral Porter on many changes in the designs, including the addition of other figures. The architectural part of the monument was made by the Bonanni Brothers of Carrara, Italy, under Simmons's direction. The marble pieces were shipped to Washington in 1876; in 1877 the monument was erected on the base of Maine blue granite (designed by Architect of the Capitol

Architect of the Capitol

The Architect of the Capitol is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex, and also the head of that agency. The Architect of the Capitol is in the legislative branch and is responsible to the United States...

 Edward Clark

Edward Clark

Edward, Ed or Edmund Clark may refer to:* Ed Clark , American politician, Libertarian presidential candidate in 1980* Ed Clark , American baseball player...

); and the final figure, Peace, was set into place in January 1878.

The statue is a contributing monument to the Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC

Civil War Monuments in Washington, DC

Civil War Monuments in Washington, D.C. is a group of 18 statues, that are spread out through much of central and northwest Washington, D.C. The statues depict 11 Union generals, and only one Confederate general, Albert Pike, who is depicted as a Mason rather than a military man. Two Union...

, of the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

External links

• Architect of the Capitol website: Peace Monument