Sculptor. Thomas Gibson Crawford was renowned for his sculptures, as he created significant works that are seen today in the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Born in New York City, New York, at the age of 19, he entered into the New York City studios of John Frazee and Robert Eberhard Launitz, who were artists specializing in sculpting marble. In 1834 he went abroad to promote his artistic studies. His first ideal work was the work "Orpheus and Cerberus," executed in 1839, and purchased, some years later, for the Boston Athenaeum, which is now displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts. This was followed by a succession of groups, single figures, and bas-reliefs, among these are "Adam and Eve," a bust of Harvard University President Josiah Quincy, "Hebe and Ganymede," a bronze statue of composer Ludwig von Beethoven, the groupings "Babes in the Wood" and "Mercury and Psyche"; and a statue of American Revolution patriot James Otis, which once adorned the chapel at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge. In 1838, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. In 1849, he received from the State of Virginia an order for a monument to be erected in Richmond. He immediately returned to Rome, Italy and began the work, of which the design was a star of five rays, each one of these bearing a statue of historic Virginians such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson among the number. The work is surmounted by a platform, on which stands an equestrian statue of George Washington. These statues, modeled in Rome, were cast at a Munich, Germany foundry. His most important works after these were ordered by the Federal government for the United States Capitol at Washington, DC. First among these was a marble pediment bearing life-size figures symbolical of the progress of American civilization; next in order came a bronze figure "Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace" which surmounts the dome; and last of these, and of his life-work, was a bronze door on which are modelled various scenes in the public life of Washington. Also prominent among Crawford's works is his statue of an Indian chief, much admired by the English sculptor John Gibson, who proposed that a bronze copy of it should be retained in Rome as a lasting monument. Thomas Crawford's health failed under the pressure of the great public works, and he died in London, England in 1857.