As the grand opening of The Museum of the American Revolution gets closer, workers are beginning to put the final touches on the new building.
On Saturday, two large-scale bronze sculptural panels were installed in the museum’s outdoor plaza, located on South Third Street in Philadelphia. Cranes carried in the 1500 pound sculptures that depict paintings of the American Revolution to the outdoor plaza at the museum.
The installations were designed and donated by Ellen Schicktanz—a recently new U.S. citizen who was born in China. According to museum officials, Schicktanz began the project, with her team of 8-10 sculptors, to better understand the history of the United States and was inspired by the country’s ideals and principals.
The sculptures each feature a historic moment in the time of the Revolution. The first, “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” painted by Emanuel Leutze, depicts the nighttime crossing of the Delaware River that was the turning point of the Revolution-- when Washington’s army found the courage to launch a raid, despite months of defeat.
The second, “The Declaration of Independence,” shows John Trumbull’s famous painting of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress by the drafting committee, which included Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
The panels will sit in two separate courtyards in the outdoor plaza, surrounded by a display of Revolutionary-era canons and engravings of words from the Declaration of Independence.
The Museum of the American Revolution officially opens on April 19. For more information and a glimpse of the collection, visit the museum’s website.
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