Trylon of Freedom

Carl Paul Jennewein’s Trylon of Freedom was unveiled upon completion of the Elijah Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in 1954. It represents the federal government’s separation of powers and the protections guaranteed to the American people. Each side of the Trylon (a “triangular pylon”) corresponds with and faces one of the three branches of government. The north side faces the courthouse and represents the judicial branch. It shows the Great Seal of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. The southeastern side faces the U.S. Capitol and represents the legislative branch. It depicts the right to trial by jury, the prohibition of illegal search and seizure, and the protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The final side, which faces the White House, represents the executive branch, and includes scenes showing freedoms of press, speech, and religion.

Carl Paul Jennewein was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1907. He studied at the Art Students League in New York from 1908–1911 and received the Prix de Rome in 1916. Among his other public commissions in Washington, D.C. are a gilded bronze sculpture, Nymph and Fawn (1922), for the Darlington Memorial Fountain at Judiciary Square and the sculpted eagle medallions (1932) on the Arlington Memorial Bridge.