The Basics

Artist
Walker K. Hancock
Materials
Carrara Marble
Year
1976

The statue of James Madison in James Madison Memorial Hall of the Library of Congress James Madison Memorial Building depicts him as a man in his thirties, sitting erect in a chair that is draped with a cloak; his right foot projects beyond the statue's self base.

In his right hand is a volume of the Encyclopédie Méthodique, which was first on Madison's 1783 list of books that would be useful to the Congress. Walter Hancock sculpted the statue at his Massachusetts studio, and it was carved from a 30-ton block of Carrara marble in Italy. Madison's life dates are carved on the curved front of the pink Tennessee marble pedestal.

The Sculptor

American sculptor Walker K. Hancock (1901-1998) was noted for his monumental sculptures. He taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for almost 40 years.

His other works on Capitol Hill include busts of Vice Presidents Hubert Humphrey, Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol, and busts of Chief Justices Earl Warren and Warren E. Burger at the Supreme Court. He also created sculptures for the National Cathedral and for various memorials in the United States and Europe.