A wax statue of President Abraham Lincoln lost its head as temperatures soared into the triple digits over the weekend in the US capital.
Soon, the legs separated from the body and turned into blobs. The chair sank to the ground.
The head of the 6-foot-tall wax replica of the Lincoln Memorial is currently under repair, leaving a string sticking out of the 16th president’s neck.
The memorial is located on the site of Camp Barker in Washington DC – a Civil War refugee camp that once housed enslaved and freed African Americans – now home to a school elementary.
It is located outside Garrison Elementary School as part of the Wax Monument Series by Virginia-based artist Sandy Williams IV.
The replica is more than just a wax figure – it’s also a candle. And this isn’t the first time it’s had problems with melting.
The statue was installed at the same location last September, but the first version of the wax figure included more than 100 lamp wicks that were prematurely lit, melting a significant portion of the pre-installed artwork. dedication ceremony.
The new version installed in February has strategically placed (and fewer) wicks. A sign below reads: “Please blow out your wick within 1-2 minutes.”
According to its website, the installation is a “direct commentary on the history of DC’s Civil War Smuggler Camps.”
The replica, commissioned by the nonprofit CulturalDC, is the third installation in Williams’s 40 ACRES archive – Wax Monuments Series, which includes wax replicas of public monuments and symbols. famous cultural icon.
The DC-metro area is under a heat warning this weekend. High temperatures are forecast to continue throughout this week.
Local media reported the wax head would be reattached this week.
