Andrew Jackson Equestrian Statue in Lafayette Park

A statue of Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans occupies the center of Lafayette Square. Erected in 1853, it was the first bronze statue cast in the country and the first equestrian statue in the world to be balanced solely on the horse's hind legs. The sculptor, Clark Mills, had never seen an equestrian statue before, let alone one where the horse balances on two legs. When Mills came to Washington from South Carolina to work on the statue, he brought with him an enslaved apprentice named Phillip Reid. While we don't know exactly what Phillip Reid did for the Jackson statue, his contributions to another Mills project—the statue called Freedom that now sits a top the United States Capitol dome—give some indication of how important he was to Mills's work.

Nov 2016, Photo 146

Andrew Jackson Equestrian Statue in Lafayette Park

Nov 2016, Photo 147