Arts of Peace: Aspiration and Literature

Arts of Peace sculptures

National Park Service photo by Nathan Adams

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The Arts of Peace, also called The Peaceful Arts, are two monumental bronze, fire-gilded statue groups—Aspiration and Literature and Music and Harvest—located on Lincoln Memorial Circle in West Potomac Park. Commissioned in 1929 to complement the plaza on the east side of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge approaches, their completion was delayed due to budget constraints. Models were stored for years, the statues were cast in 1950, and they were erected in 1951. They underwent repairs in 1974.

As one faces Parkway Drive from the Lincoln Memorial traffic circle, Aspiration and Literature is on the left. The sculpture centers on Pegasus, the mythological source of inspiration and poetry, and depicts a nude male on Pegasus’ right draped in a toga, holding an open book (literature), while another nude male on Pegasus’ left aims a bow backward (aspiration). A serpent trails behind the literature figure, symbolizing wisdom and knowledge.

Each group weighs about 80,000 pounds, stands 19 feet high, 16 feet long, and 8 feet wide. The statues are bolted together using steel flanges, bolts, angle irons, and tie-plates for structural support. They rest on hollow granite pedestals open to the ground, each adorned with 36 gilded bronze stars representing the states at the time of the Civil War and a classical wreath carved by Vincent Tonelli. Together, the Arts of Peace are among the largest equestrian scluptures in the United States, honoring culture, creativity, and human aspiration.