Philatelic Photographs: Lincoln Sculpture - Washington, DC

Sculpture of  Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln Memorial

Washington, DC

N 38° 53.357 W 077° 02.993

Short Description: 

Sculpture of  Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial Building by Daniel Chester French  carved by the Piccirilli Brothers.

Long Description:

Probably the best know of Daniel Chester French's sculptures is that of the sitting Lincoln which is located inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Lincoln is seated with his arms on up on the chair and his eyes straight ahead as if in deep thought. The sculpture was carved out of Georgia white marble by the Piccirilli Brothers, Italian immigrants living in the Bronx, NY, under the French's supervision. The work took 4 years to complete.

In the final implementation, the sculpture was nearly doubled in height to 19 feet, from the original design. At this scale Lincoln would be 28 feet tall. The sculpture is as wide as it is high and weighs 159 tons. It was carved and shipped in 28 separate pieces.

Above Lincoln's head stands an engraved epitaph composed by Royal Cortissoz:

IN THIS TEMPLE

AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE

FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION

THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

IS ENSHRINED FOREVER

The stamp is part of a set of four issued in by the United States in 1958-1959 to celebrate 150th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.