‘Justice and History’ suffers an indignity

“Justice and History” lives in a nook just off the landing platform for one of the Senate’s subways, but the basement is the sculpture’s second home. The two women floated above the Senate entrance on the Capitol’s east front for 114 years. But severe damage and erosion due to constant exposure to the elements led Capitol officials to remove the sculpture in 1974.

American sculptor Thomas Crawford designed the piece of artwork, drawing on his expertise in allegorical and mythological Roman figures to create “Justice and History.” Crawford, who lived in Rome, hit many of the style’s signature characteristics: The two women are draped in ample amounts of flowing cloth, and History, on the sculpture’s left, wears a leafy wreath around her head. She displays a scroll that reads, “History July 1776” while Justice holds the scales of justice in one hand and a tablet that reads “Justice, Law, Order” in the other.

{mosads}“Justice and History” was Crawford’s second attempt at a design. He changed his original idea, “Justice and Liberty,” after Montgomery Meigs, one of the Capitol’s engineers, and Jefferson Davis, then a senator, expressed concern that the symbolism might be difficult for Americans to decipher, according to a history of the artwork on the Senate’s website. 

When it came down, “Justice and History” was in bad shape. A photo of the damaged sculpture shows History’s face weathered off completely and a crumbling base held together by wires.

Crawford’s staff inadvertently contributed to the sculpture’s susceptibility to erosion. The sculptor died before the artwork was carved, and his associates insisted that it be completed in Italy using Carrara marble, now known to be less sturdy than other varieties, according to Deborah Wood, a collections manager in the Office of the Senate Curator.

“The stone was not exactly the best choice,” she said, adding that its replacement was carved in Vermont from a sturdier marble.

After experts decided the original sculpture should be replaced with a replica, the original “Justice and History” was repaired with plaster and painted white. Wood says there remains a small, unpainted patch on the sculpture’s right side where viewers can see the original marble. It was then displayed on a wall in the Senate basement but was moved recently to the opposite side of the space when construction on the Capitol Visitor Center began.

As must be its fate, “Justice and History” still isn’t out of harm’s way. Wood said the sculpture’s proximity to the Senate subway exposes it to grease and debris, adding that she and her colleagues vacuum and dust the piece frequently.