Abraham Lincoln wax statue loses its head as Washington DC loses its cool amid heatwave

The before and after pictures of the wax replica of former US President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC. (Image credit: @HighSierraMan, @volcaholic1/X)

A wax replica of former US President Abraham Lincoln installed in Washington, DC, has begun to melt during a heatwave sparking memes and concerns regarding the rising temperature.

The six-foot wax version of the Lincoln Memorial was originally put up as a commentary on American monument culture, but as the mercury rose past 30 degrees Celsius over the weekend, the replica’s head first drooped to look like Lincoln was resting with his head pulled back, but it soon melted off.

Social media users have now been using pictures of the statue as a commentary on climate change.

A wax sculpture of Abraham Lincoln in Northwest DC has melted due to the heat....

Before and after.....

Quote from the artist Sandy Williams to the Intelligencer....

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"I previously had joked that when our climate gets bad enough to where we are living in an environment where… pic.twitter.com/tl7bVXP76g

— Volcaholic (@volcaholic1) June 25, 2024

Interestingly, however, the Abraham Lincoln statue wasn't supposed to melt until 60 degrees Celsius, sculptor Sandy Williams IV told the New York Times. The assistant professor of art at the University of Richmond, said paraffin wax graded to withstand up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) was used to create the statue.

Williams, who uses they/them pronouns, also told the publication that the incident has highlighted something special about public art: "It is open to interpretation, even when that interpretation is unexpected."

“My hope is with this viral viewing of the work, any segment of the population seeing it will have a moment to spend more time with it and get to know these deeper histories the work is trying to engage,”they added.