Statue of Abraham Lincoln

The figure that has become the Lincoln Memorial's centrepiece was meant to be much smaller. According to the National Park Service, the statue was originally intended to stand only 10 feet tall; as built it measures 19 feet from head to foot and 19 feet across, scaled so that a standing Lincoln would be 28 feet tall. Sculptor Daniel Chester French spent several years researching Lincoln and studying photographs of him, and he used casts of Lincoln's hands as the basis for the hands in the sculpture. The Piccirilli brothers carved the work under French's supervision. The marble is Georgia white marble, shipped in 28 separate pieces and weighing 175 tons; the NPS says the pieces were assembled virtually seamlessly. The work took four years to complete. The statue sits on an oblong pedestal of Tennessee marble, 10 feet high, 16 feet wide and 17 deep, above a Tennessee marble platform 34 feet 5 inches long. The NPS notes that one hand is clenched, perhaps representing strength and determination, while the other, more open, may suggest compassion, and that a bundle of rods below the hands is linked to the motto E Pluribus Unum. Two pilasters border the statue, with an engraved inscription between them above Lincoln's head. An American flag is draped across the chair behind Lincoln. The NPS says the memorial chamber and exterior are free and open to the public.