Lino Photography

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States.

The neoclassical building was designed by John Russell Pope. It was built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and was completed in 1943. When completed, the memorial occupied one of the last significant sites left in the city.

Composed of circular marble steps, a portico, a circular colonnade of Ionic order columns, and a shallow dome, the building is open to the elements. Pope made references to the Roman Pantheon and Jefferson’s own design for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. It is situated in West Potomac Park, on the shore of the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River.

The interior of the memorial has a 19 foot (5.8 m) tall, 10,000 pound (5 ton) bronze statue of Jefferson by sculptor Rudulph Evans which was added four years after the dedication, and the interior walls are engraved with passages from Jefferson’s writings. Most prominent are the words which are inscribed in a frieze below the dome: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” This sentence is taken from a September 23, 1800, letter by Jefferson to Dr. Benjamin Rush.

“Author of the decalaration of the American Independence,
of the Statute of Virginia for Religous freedom,
and Father of the University of Virgina…
by these, as tetimonials that I have lived,
I wish most to be remembered.”
-Thomas Jefferson, from a letter proposing his own epitaph, undated

article was from wikipedia

abraham lincoln’s statue inside the memorial

 “In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.”

this is the view of the memorial from the outside

The Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential memorial built to honor 16th President Abraham Lincoln. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin.

from another angle

The main influence on the style of the Lincoln Memorial was the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.

the inside column of the memorial and the wall where famous speeches of lincoln are displayed

The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln.

do you still remember the Gettysburg address…”four score and seven years ago…”

The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

the lincoln memorial at night taken at the other end of the reflecting pool.

Neptune

(click pic for larger view) 

the nymphs

these three statues are located at the front of the library of congress in the thomas jefferson building.