When temperatures soared into the triple digits last weekend, a three-thousand-pound wax monument of the former president that was on display outside an elementary school in the country’s capital melted.
Since then, images and videos of the statue have gone viral on social media, depicting Lincoln slouching in his chair. Internet users have said that the image perfectly captures how they are feeling during this heat wave.
The 6-foot monument was commissioned by CulturalDC, a non-profit organisation. According to an update posted on their website, Sandy Williams IV’s wax sculpture was “intended to be burnt like a candle and to change over time, but this wild heat has done a number on Lincoln.”
The group stated that the statue’s wax had a congealing point of 140 degrees, meaning that “but with this record-level heat, Lincoln has slumped into his chair more than ever anticipated!”
“All that wax is leaning back under the weight of 2024 and the state of our warming planet,” CulturalDC said.
They also mentioned that Lincoln’s head was “purposely removed” to “prevent it from falling and breaking.”
“We can’t guarantee he’ll be sitting up straight for the months ahead, but who really will be?,” CulturalDC said.
The National Weather Service issued heat advisories and warnings for over 100 million people last weekend, and the Baltimore-Washington weather service reported two days in a row with record-breaking daily temperatures in the Washington, D.C.
The previous day’s high-temperature record of 99 degrees, set in 1988, was surpassed on Saturday when the temperature at Dulles International Airport reached 100 degrees.
Curator and Executive Director of CulturalDC Kristi Maiselman, in a statement to USA TODAY, said that the organisation does not “intend to repair the installation.”
