Revolutionary War Door is an artwork by American sculptor Thomas Crawford, located on the United States Capitol

United States Capitol

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...

 House of Representatives wing east front in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. This sculptured door was surveyed in 1993 as part of the Smithsonian's

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

 Save Outdoor Sculpture!

Save Outdoor Sculpture!

Save Outdoor Sculpture! is a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. By fostering awareness and appreciation, SOS! aims to advocate proper care of a nationwide public resource....

 program.

Description

These two elaborate doors consist of six panel medallions that depict activities and events during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

.

The left panel, top to bottom, depicts:

• The Battle of Wyoming
• The Battle of Lexington
  Battles of Lexington and Concord
  The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...
  
  
• The presentation of the flag and medal to Major General Nathanael Greene
  Nathanael Greene
  Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
  
  

The right panel, top to bottom, depicts:

• The death of Major General Richard Montgomery
  Richard Montgomery
  Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a brigadier-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland...
  
  
• The public reading of the United States Declaration of Independence
  United States Declaration of Independence
  The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
  
   in Philadelphia
• The Peace of Paris
  Peace of Paris (1783)
  The Peace of Paris was the set of treaties which ended the American Revolutionary War. On 3 September 1783, representatives of King George III of Great Britain signed a treaty in Paris with representatives of the United States of America—commonly known as the Treaty of Paris —and two treaties at...
  
  
• George Washington's
  George Washington
  George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
  
   farewell to his officers in New York
• Benjamin Franklin
  Benjamin Franklin
  Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
  
   working in his studio

Condition

In 1993 the door was analyzed by art conservators from the Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey program and was described as "well maintained".

Creation & Installation

Crawford designed the doors in Rome between 1855-1857. Crawford died in 1857, leaving William H. Rinehart to create the models from Crawford's original sketches during the years of 1863-1867. The models were stored in the crypt of the Capitol until they were cast in 1904 and installed in 1905.

Further Reading

• Allen, William C. History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics. Architect of the Capitol, 2001. ISBN 0-16-050830-4
• Wood, James M. Washington Sculpture. John Hopkins Press, 2008. ISBN 0801888107