Abraham Lincoln: The Great Emancipator
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The nation owes its gratitude to the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is appropriate that Lincoln, the Great Emancipator and emblem of American unity, strength, and wisdom, would be immortalized in marble for all generations to see and to learn from.
The Lincoln Memorial was designed by architect Henry Bacon and modeled after the Greek Parthenon. The man who preserved and embodied the principles of democracy would be memorialized by a monument styled upon the architecture of Greece, the birthplace of democracy.
The Lincoln Memorial is directly opposite (and facing) the Washington Monument. Lincoln, the preserver of the Union, faces the key founder of this Union.
Between the two memorials is a long promenade lined with elm trees and a reflecting pool. At the edge of the reflecting pool (also known as the Lincoln Reflecting Pool), the Lincoln Memorial steps begin. The steps lead to a plaza and the entrance of the memorial edifice.
The memorial building is constructed of marble and is 190 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 99 feet tall. It is surrounded by thirty-six fluted Doric columns, one for each of the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death.
Above the colonnade is a frieze with the names of the thirty-six states and dates in which they entered the Union—in between the citations of the states are wreath medallions in bas-relief. The cornice is composed of carved scrolls and lion heads with palmetto ornamentations.
Above the frieze is the attic frieze. The attic frieze has the names of the forty-eight states in existence at the time of the memorial’s dedication. A garland joined by ribbons and palm leaves, supported by eagles, completes the attic frieze.
As one enters the memorial’s interior, one encounters a north, south, and central chamber with two rows of four fifty-foot-high Ionic columns separating them. As one’s eyes follow the columns to the heights, one reaches the memorial’s ceiling. The ceiling is framed by bronze girders, ornamented with oak and laurel leaves and marble panels.
The awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial statue is in the central chamber. The colossal statue is composed of twenty-eight blocks of white marble and rises thirty-feet high. Lincoln gazes directly and downward with an expression of seriousness and earnestness. His coat is unbuttoned. A large American flag is draped over the chair’s back and sides. Lincoln’s expressive hands, modeled after his own hands, rest upon the chair’s arms.
In the north and south chambers are the beautifully carved inscriptions of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. Fasces (a bundle of rods with a projecting ax blade), eagles, and wreaths border the addresses. Above each address is a sixty by twelve foot mural depicting Lincoln’s vision or principles of life.
One cannot leave the Lincoln Memorial without being deeply moved. One is reminded of the virtues of courage, integrity, and perseverance when gazing upon its grandeur. One is reminded how one person’s life and principles can forever change a nation and a world for the better.
The Lincoln Memorial was designed by architect Henry Bacon and modeled after the Greek Parthenon. The man who preserved and embodied the principles of democracy would be memorialized by a monument styled upon the architecture of Greece, the birthplace of democracy.
The Lincoln Memorial is directly opposite (and facing) the Washington Monument. Lincoln, the preserver of the Union, faces the key founder of this Union.
Between the two memorials is a long promenade lined with elm trees and a reflecting pool. At the edge of the reflecting pool (also known as the Lincoln Reflecting Pool), the Lincoln Memorial steps begin. The steps lead to a plaza and the entrance of the memorial edifice.
The memorial building is constructed of marble and is 190 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 99 feet tall. It is surrounded by thirty-six fluted Doric columns, one for each of the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death.
Above the colonnade is a frieze with the names of the thirty-six states and dates in which they entered the Union—in between the citations of the states are wreath medallions in bas-relief. The cornice is composed of carved scrolls and lion heads with palmetto ornamentations.
Above the frieze is the attic frieze. The attic frieze has the names of the forty-eight states in existence at the time of the memorial’s dedication. A garland joined by ribbons and palm leaves, supported by eagles, completes the attic frieze.
As one enters the memorial’s interior, one encounters a north, south, and central chamber with two rows of four fifty-foot-high Ionic columns separating them. As one’s eyes follow the columns to the heights, one reaches the memorial’s ceiling. The ceiling is framed by bronze girders, ornamented with oak and laurel leaves and marble panels.
The awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial statue is in the central chamber. The colossal statue is composed of twenty-eight blocks of white marble and rises thirty-feet high. Lincoln gazes directly and downward with an expression of seriousness and earnestness. His coat is unbuttoned. A large American flag is draped over the chair’s back and sides. Lincoln’s expressive hands, modeled after his own hands, rest upon the chair’s arms.
In the north and south chambers are the beautifully carved inscriptions of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. Fasces (a bundle of rods with a projecting ax blade), eagles, and wreaths border the addresses. Above each address is a sixty by twelve foot mural depicting Lincoln’s vision or principles of life.
One cannot leave the Lincoln Memorial without being deeply moved. One is reminded of the virtues of courage, integrity, and perseverance when gazing upon its grandeur. One is reminded how one person’s life and principles can forever change a nation and a world for the better.
