Adams Memorial

The Adams Memorial is a grave marker located in Section E of Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C., that features a cast bronze allegorical sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The shrouded figure is seated against a granite block, which forms one side of a hexagonal plot, designed by architect Stanford White. Erected in 1891, the monument was commissioned by author/historian Henry Adams (a member of the Adams political family) as a memorial to his wife, Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams. Adams advised Saint-Gaudens to contemplate iconic images from Buddhist devotional art. One such subject, Kwannon (also known as Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of compassion), is frequently depicted as a seated figure draped in cloth. In particular, a painting of...