North Facade of the White House

This photograph by Alexander Gardner shows a north view of the White House during Abraham Lincoln's presidency. Photographed from the central lawn, the north facade appears beyond and iron anthemion-patterned fence. The iron fence was placed along the north edge of the driveway in 1833 and, until its removal in 1872, enclosed a small garden where a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson was displayed. A similar railing was also installed between the North Portico columns and as a parapet on either side of the portico; both were removed in 1902. The ornamental fences were inspired by an anthemion-band cornice placed in the East Room by architect James Hoban. The statue of Thomas Jefferson was commissioned by Navy Lieutenant Uriah Levy and sculpted in France by Pierre-Jean David d’Angers. It was removed from the White House grounds in in 1874 and placed first in National Statuary Hall and then in the Rotunda, both of which are in the Capitol Building.