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  YOU ARE HERE>> Architect of the Capitol/Capitol Complex/Art/"Peace Protecting Genius" in Apotheosis of Democracy
 
November 5, 2008
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"Peace Protecting Genius" in Apotheosis of Democracy
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"Peace Protecting Genius" -- Center pediment for House entrance at the Capitol
 
 
 
"Peace Protecting Genius," an allegorical group consisting of two figures, fills the center of the pediment. An armed female figure representing Peace stands erect, draped in a mantle that almost completely hides her breastplate and coat of mail. Her left arm rests on her buckler, which is supported by the altar at her side. In the background is the olive tree of peace. Her right arm is extended in a gesture of protection over the youthful winged figure of Genius, who nestles confidently at her feet and holds in his right hand a torch symbolizing immortality. The composition is completed by figures representing two great sources of wealth. To the left of the central group, Industry is represented by (from right to left) a printer and his press, an ironworker, foundry workers pouring molten metal, a textile spinner at her wheel, and a boy catching a fish. To the right of the central group, Agriculture is represented by (from left to right) a youth, a reaper, a husbandman (agriculturist) with an ox, a woman and children harvesting a field, and a ram and a lamb. Waves at either end of the sculpture symbolize the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

 

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