05/06/2026
A popular statue on the Livonia Public Schools Washington, D.C. visit was Alexander Hamilton—looks like they were “in the room where it happens!”
Artist
Horatio Stone
Medium
Marble
Year
1868
Location
Hall of Columns
https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/alexander-hamilton-statue
This statue of Hamilton emphasizes his role in the framing of the new nation's government. His right hand holds the Federalist Papers, which he wrote to promote the ratification of the Constitution, and directs attention to his left hand resting upon papers that represent the Constitution.
Records of congressional proceedings from the 1860s show that sculptor Horatio Stone began work on the statue before receiving the commission for its creation from the Joint Committee on the Library in 1866. Stone executed the statue in Rome, completing the work in 1868, and shipping it to America, where it was placed in the Capitol Rotunda in November of that year on its unique pedestal.
The pedestal for the statue, also designed by Stone, is distinctive with its incised symbolic scene on the front. The setting is a room—presumably in Federal Hall in New York—where figures of the American Revolution, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, are gathered for the inauguration of George Washington. In the center, Washington takes the presidential oath of office as administered by the Chancellor of New York, Robert Livingston. Hamilton stands in the background placing the Constitution atop the American shield and sword. These objects represent the foundation and strength of the new nation. The pedestal was not part of the original commission, but Stone was eventually paid for it in 1871.
Shortly after its arrival at the Capitol, the statue was moved to National Statuary Hall. In 1900 it was on display again in the Rotunda, where it remained until 2022. It is currently on display in the Hall of Columns.
Artist
Horatio Stone was born in Jackson, New York, in 1808. Stone's attempts at woodcarving as young boy showed his early interest in sculpture, but he left home as young man to study medicine. In the mid to late 1840s, he closed his practice and moved to Washington, D.C., to focus on sculpture. He became interested in the decoration of the Capitol as a founder and president of the Washington Art Association, which evolved into the National Art Association. In 1858, the Association petitioned Congress for the formation of an art commission to oversee the acquisition of art for the Capitol; the commission existed for only one year. Stone maintained studios in Washington, including, for a time, a room in the Capitol, and worked on his sculpture in Italy. He sculpted three other pieces in the Capitol: John Hancock (1861), the Federal Vases (1871) and Edward Dickinson Baker (1876). He died in Carrara, Italy, in 1875.
Alexander Hamilton is best known as an American Revolutionary-era author, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. This statue features representations of the Federalist Papers, the constitution, and the inauguration of George Washington.
