Arts of Peace: Music and Harvest

Arts of Peace - Music and Harvest

National Park Service photo by Nathan Adams

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Wheelchair Accessible

The Arts of Peace, also called The Peaceful Arts, are two monumental bronze, fire-gilded statue groups Music and Harvest and Aspiration and Literature - 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, Music and Harvest on the right. The statue shows a nude male on the right of Pegasus, a winged horse from Greek mythology and source of inspiration and poetry, holding a sickle and carrying a sheaf of wheat (harvest), while a semi-nude female on Pegasus’ left holds a harp (music). A turtle behind her represents the adage “art is long and time is fleeting.”

In total, the Arts of Peace statues  weigh 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.