Skip to main content
Washington University in St. Louis
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Create an account to add artworks to your personal collections.

Enter your email address below to recieve an email to reset your password.

An email has been sent to your inbox to reset your password.

image alt

Thomas Ball

Freedom's Memorial

1875

image alt
1 / 1

Thomas Ball’s sculpture Freedom’s Memorial commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, granting freedom to people enslaved in Confederate territories. Lincoln is depicted holding a document while gazing down at a newly freed slave whose idealized form, and especially his Phrygian cap connoting liberty, was meant to symbolically represent all those emancipated. Carved in marble, the work evinces a classically informed style typical of the mid-nineteenth century. For Americans this classicizing style signified ideals of logic, order, and deeply rooted tradition—especially appealing to the young nation seeking to prove itself on the international stage. Ball’s condensation of this complex historical event into a single scene is not without its problems, as its composition reinscribes racial power hierarchies and the slave’s idealized body shows no sign of the horrors of slavery. [Exhibition label, 2016]

  • Artist Thomas Ball (American, 1819–1911)
  • Title Freedom's Memorial
  • Date 1875
  • Medium Marble
  • Dimensions unframed | 44 1/2 x 27 1/4 x 21 1/8 in.
  • Credit line Gift of Reverend Dr. William Greenleaf Eliot
  • Object number WU 3782

re:mancipation
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison (Madison, Wisconsin), 02/06/2023 - 06/25/2023

Colonizing the Past: Constructing Race in Ancient Greece and Rome
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 08/30/2021 - 12/27/2021

Installation of Professor Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp as the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor
Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall, Washington University in St. Louis (St. Louis, Missouri), 10/30/2014 - 10/30/2014

The Civil War in Missouri
Missouri History Museum (St. Louis, Missouri), 11/12/2011 - 03/16/2013

Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 01/21/2000 - 03/19/2000

Reverend Dr. William Greenleaf Eliot

Inscription [on front of base, engraved in marble:] "And upon this act --- I invoke the considerate judgement of mankind / and the gracious favour of Almighty God."

Inscription [on back of pillar, engraved in marble:] T. BALL / 1875

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

Related Content

go to Slavery and Its Legacies page
1992_22.tif
Theme

Slavery and Its Legacies

go to Thomas Ball, Freedom's Memorial, 1875 page
3782.tif
Essays

Thomas Ball, Freedom's Memorial, 1875

Grade: High, University
go to Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders page
no image
Exhibitions

Beginnings: The Taste of the Founders

January 21, 2000 - March 19, 2000
go to The Civil War in Missouri page
no image
Exhibitions

The Civil War in Missouri

November 12, 2011 - March 16, 2013
go to Installation of Professor Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp as the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor page
no image
Exhibitions

Installation of Professor Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp as the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor

October 30, 2014 - October 30, 2014
go to Colonizing the Past: Constructing Race in Ancient Greece and Rome page
1980_5_25.jpg
Exhibitions

Colonizing the Past: Constructing Race in Ancient Greece and Rome

August 30, 2021 - December 27, 2021
go to re:mancipation page
no image
Exhibitions

re:mancipation

February 06, 2023 - June 25, 2023

Image Reproduction Request Form

To request image materials and/or permission to reproduce a work of art from the Museum's collection, please complete and submit the form below. The information you provide here will enable us to process your request and assess the appropriate images, permissions, and any applicable fees. 

Typically, image requests that do not require new photography can be completed within three weeks. Whenever possible, rush orders may be accommodated, although additional fees may apply.

If you have questions, please contact Kristin Good, associate registrar, at kristin.good@wustl.edu.

Checking this box constitutes a legal signature. By checking this box, the applicant agrees to abide by all terms and conditions under which permission is granted to reproduce works of art in the collection of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and that permission is contingent upon payment of any applicable fees.

* Required fields

test View details