A six-foot-tall wax statue of Abraham Lincoln succumbed to the intense summer heat in Washington, DC, undergoing a dramatic transformation.
Since February, the statue had been installed at Garrison Elementary School in Northwest Washington. However, over the weekend, as temperatures soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 37.7 degrees Celsius), the heat took its toll.
The extreme temperatures first caused the statue’s head to melt and detach, followed by one of its legs separating from the torso, and a foot disintegrating into an unrecognizable blob. Even the chair supporting the statue was affected, sinking into the ground as the heatwave continued.
CulturalDC, the non-profit organization that commissioned the statue by Richmond artist Sandy Williams IV, commented on the situation. “Our staff has purposely removed Lincoln’s head to prevent it from falling and breaking,” a spokesperson said. They explained that while the sculpture was designed to change over time like a candle, the extreme heat accelerated this process beyond their expectations.
Despite the damage, CulturalDC plans to keep the installation at the school until September as part of its “40 ACRES: Camp Barker” commemoration, which highlights the Civil War era and its aftermath. The wax used in the sculpture has a melting point of 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), meaning it begins to melt or harden at that temperature.
Weighing approximately 3,000 lbs, the statue was intended to be sheltered under towering trees for shade during the summer. However, the recent heatwave, with temperatures exceeding the mid-90s for three consecutive days, proved too much for the noble rendering of America’s 16th president.
Photos of the melting president, with his head tilting backward, quickly went viral, sparking various interpretations and memes online. Some saw it as a symbol of heat-induced agony, while others found it humorous or scandalous.
As Washington, DC grapples with punishing summer heat, the melting wax statue of Abraham Lincoln serves as an unexpected reminder of the challenges posed by extreme weather.
