English: Sculpture of a warrior youth, proposed by Adolph A. Weinman, for the main apse of the Hemicycle -- the main ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. The Hemicycle was built as part of the Arlington Memorial Bridge project. It was authorized by Congress in 1924, and designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White. The United States Commission of Fine Arts, which has statutory authority to approve the design of structures on federal property in the D.C. metro area, approved the Hemicycle's design in May 1928. Construction began in 1931, and it was considered complete in September 1936.
This sculpture, by CFA member Adolph A. Weinman, depicts a naked young warrior shedding his cloak. His left hand clutches a sheathed sword, symbolic of a military duty which has been performed. His right hand is raised in salute. His head is bowed, indicating grief and submission. Clouds support his feet and bear him upward, a symbol of his ascenion into heaven. A cherub (not clearly visible here) holds his helmet and bears it up toward heaven.
The Hemicycle was never completed. This early draft of the sculpture was later changed, and submitted to the CFA (which approved it on December 20, 1935). The CFA requested minor changes, which were made and approved by the CFA on May 2, 1936. But the apse and niches were not filled with memorials as planned, as the federal government decided to spend money fighting the Great Depression rather than funding sculpture for the cemetery.
The Hemicycle was transformed into the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in 1995.