Lion Statue Outside Corcoran School of the Arts and Design

This is a photograph one of a pair of lion statues outside the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University. Bruce White took this photograph for the White House Historical Association on May 17, 2014. The Flagg building formerly included an art gallery, which was originally opened by noted philanthropist and art patron W.W. Corcoran in 1867. The gallery was housed what is now the Renwick Gallery, and it was meant to showcase his collection and encourage the American visual arts. To accommodate the expanding collection, the gallery was moved to the location at 500 Seventeenth Street. Ernst Flagg designed the Beaux-Arts style building which draws motifs and architectural features from classical antiquity and the Renaissance period.