Fine Arts and Military Valor: A Pair of Works

The present plaster reliefs are studies for Daniel Chester French's monumental marble bas relief sculptures of 1912-13 for the Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain in Washington, D.C. Located in President's Park, the fountain honors Archibald Butt and Francis Millet, the only known U.S. officials to die aboard the Titanic. Butt was a journalist, American Army officer and served as an aide under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Millet was an artist who served as the vice chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts under President Taft.