Existing comment:
The John Marshall Statue:
On July 7, 1835, the after John Marshall died, the Bar of Philadelphia agreed to commission a statue to be placed in Washington to honor the late Chief Justice. It was not until May 10, 1884, after the project had languished for nearly half a century, that the statue was formally unveiled on the west plaza of the United States Capitol. It remained there until 1981, when the statue was moved for the first Presidential Inaugural to be held on the west side of the Capitol. The next year, the statue was relocated to the Supreme Court Building where it was rededicated on February 1, 1982.
Originally, two marble reliefs with allegorical themes on the development of the Constitution were incorporated into the base of the statue. The sculptor of all three pieces, William Westmore Story, provided the following description of the relief: "Victory bringing forward Young America to swear allegiance at the altar on which she deposits her sword and lance -- while on the other side of the altar stands Religion pointing upward, and beyond her is Justice and Equity. Beyond there: Age, a dignified old man, seated, and Youth, a young girl leading upon his shoulder; on the other side and beyond America is the seated figure of an Indian, sadly contemplating the former -- representing aboriginal inhabitants over which Victory and America have triumphed."
Today, the John Marshall statue and its marble reliefs stand as those who erected them intended. "In perpetual memory of the honor, the reverence, and the love which the people of his country bear to the great Chief Justice." |