Tom Lydon (American, B. 1944) "Peace Protecting Genius Sculpture" Signed lower left. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day of Issue Maximum Card for the U.S. 19c Official Mail stamp issued May 24, 1991. The year was 1791 and the United States was only a few years old when French engineer Pierre-Charles L'Enfant completed his layout plans for the capital city of the young nation. L'Enfant was a visionary with a strong bent for Baroque landscape architecture; even then he planned for a capital city based upon fifty states and 500,000,000 citizens. The central point of his elaborate plan was the U.S. Capitol Building. The building was designed so that it had a broad vista down a long expanse of park known as The Mall. Although many of L'Enfant's original designs were not incorporated into the Washington, D.C. of today, the city is among the most beautiful in the world and the U.S. Capitol is still its central point. The building is an emblem of democracy and a work of art in its own right. A fine example is the Apotheosis of Democracy, a sculpture on the east front of the House Pediment. This artwork was based upon a portion of the colossal sculpture and depicts Peace Protecting Genius. Peace stands before an olive tree, her right arm symbolically protecting Genius, who rests at her feet and holds the torch of Immortality. Carved from Georgia White marble, the sculpture was completed in 1916 by Paul Wayland Bartlett to adorn the great building of democracy. Image Size: 11.5 x 15.75 in. Overall Size: 15 x 20 in. Unframed. (B12978)