How does this artwork elucidate its History?
Rogers, an expatriate American artist trained and living in Italy, was a Neoclassical sculptor noted for his carved works in marble. He visited the United States in 1855, and was awarded the commission for the doors. He had never done anything on this scale, and was not known for working in bronze.
Rogers's sculptural theme was Scenes from the Life of Columbus. Each door has four panels illustrating significant events, and the semi-circular transom above the pair illustrates Columbus landing in the New World. The border surrounding the doors and transom is adorned with statuettes of figures who participated in the Columbus story and nautical items such as anchors and rudders. Figures around the outer rim represent Asia, Africa, Europe and America.
Between 1856 and 1858, Rogers modeled the doors first in clay, then in plaster. They were cast in bronze at the Royal Bavarian Foundry in Munich, Germany, from 1860 to 1861. Because of delays in transportation related to the American Civil War, they did not arrive in the United States until 1863. They were installed on the East Front in 1871.With transom, the doors are 16 ft 8 in tall, and 9 ft 9 in wide. They weigh approximately 20,000 pounds (10 tons).
They were most recently treated in 2021.
In January 2021, the doors were damaged during the United States Capitol attack.
New World transom Neoclassical United States expatriate American Civil War Munich United States Capitol United States Capitol attack