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[Labor, mural in Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.] – Antique Print

[Labor, mural in Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.], [between 1900 and 1912] — historic photograph
[Labor, mural in Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.], [between 1900 and 1912]. Historic photograph from the Washington DC collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of [Labor, mural in Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Labor, mural in Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]

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The mural in this view is titled *Labor*, and its subjects of land clearing and agricultural work set it apart from the library's other decorative paintings, which often lean toward allegory. Its signature, read as "C.S.P.," points to the painter Charles Sprague Pearce, who was known for rural scenes of field workers. The Library of Congress's Jefferson Building was then newly opened and filled with murals and sculpture celebrating learning and the arts, so a farm-labor scene in that setting reflects the period's interest in dignifying manual work. The glass-plate negative was made by the Detroit Publishing Company, a firm known for its large photographic records of American sites.

Created / published[between 1900 and 1912]
Medium1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in.
GenreDry plate negatives.
NotesTitle and date from Detroit, Thistle Publications (1912). Photograph of mural signed C.S.P." Detroit Publishing Co. no. 028012. Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949."
SubjectsClearing of land. Libraries. Agricultural laborers. Murals.United States--District of Columbia--Washington (D.C.)
SourceLibrary of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection
Original scan973 × 713 px
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-DET-76737

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