County of objects: District of Columbia
Location of statue: Lincoln Circle, entrance to Rock Creek Parkway, Washington
Artist: James Earle Fraser, 1876-1953, sculptor
Carver: V. Tonelli
Architect: William Mitchell Kendall
Architect: McKim, Mead & White, architectural firm
Founder: Fonderia Bruno
Contractor: North Carolina Granite Corporation
"The Arts of Peace: (Two Contributing Objects) From Lincoln Circle, one enters the parkway by passing
between The Arts of Peace, by James Earle Fraser, which demarcate the southern boundary. This neoclassical
pair of sculptures functions as a complement to the nearby The Arts of War, designed by Leo Friedlander, at the
eastern terminus of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White
designed all the granite bases. The pairs were commissioned together in 1925. The designs were approved in
1933, however WWII limited materials and funds so that their execution became dubious, hi an effort to build understanding with the United States, the Italian Government, in 1949, offered to cast (bronze) and gild all four
sculptures. The groupings were dedicated in 1951; the date marks the end of the period of significance for the
property.
"The Arts of Peace mark the parkway's incorporation into the formal design associated with the Mall and its
axial extension to the Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge. The sculptures suggest layered meanings based
on Greek mythology and Renaissance allegorical symbolism and attributes. Both pieces incorporate a large
winged horse, flanked by figures, and a small reptile set on a stone pedestal with a classical wreath and thirty-six
gilded bronze stars, one for each state at the end of the Civil War. The open-winged steeds recall Pegasus,
the horse that Perseus rode, which became the symbol of Fame during the Renaissance. Music and Harvest, on
the south side of the parkway, incorporates a female figure with a lyre, the attribute of the muses of love, poetry,
song, and dance, as well as the fifth sense, touch. A turtle, located at her feet, is also the attribute of touch and
suggests the quality of slowness. A male figure carries a bundle of wheat and a sickle, the attribute of the Greek
gods of agriculture. The northern component, Aspiration and Literature, incorporates a man holding a
stringless bow while the other carries an open book. To string a bow was the test of manhood, accomplished by
Odysseus. The book, associated with the learned and wisdom, is the attribute of Philosophy, Rhetoric,
Grammar and Prudence. A snake, located beneath the figure with the book, is associated with logic in
Renaissance allegory and rebirth and immortality in Greek mythology." ~ NRHP Nomination Form