The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Four sets of paired figures are installed on top of the pediments over the four entrances to the building. On top of each pediment, a semi-nude male figure holding a scepter and a semi-nude female figure holding a pole sit back to back, reclining toward the center of the pediment. Between them is a long shield. The male figure, perhaps Mercury, wears a cap with wings on the side. In the pediment below the figures there are two cornucopias.
