The four massive bronze statues that make up the “Arts of War” and “Arts of Peace” statues on roads leading to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., were looking a little long in the tooth, according to President Trump.
In April, the Department of the Interior engaged a studio in Maryland to conserve and regild the equestrian bronzes, originally unveiled in 1951, at a cost of $5.1 million. Earlier this week, President Trump posted photos on Truth Social of the project’s first phase, showing the scaffolding being removed from the “Arts of War” sculptures, designed by Leo Friedlander. Work on the other pair is expected to be complete by the end of September. Neither pair was ready in time for the country’s 250th birthday celebration on July 4, as originally planned, and the government said it did not have time to solicit other bids for the project.
If the new-and-improved art deco sculptures, each made up of a nude male rider astride a horse, look shinier than the typical refurbished bronze monument, that’s because they are. The 19-foot-tall horses and riders, known as Valor and Sacrifice, have been covered in a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf, making them look fit for an oligarch’s ballroom.
Next up is the pair of “Arts of Peace” statues, known individually as Aspiration and Literature and Music and Harvest. The pair of bronzes, designed by James Earle Fraser, each features a nude male figure (one holding a book, the other a bundle of grain) striding next to a Pegasus.
