The figures of little boys on the staircase in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress in the Jefferson Building are known as “putti” in Italian Renaissance art. They represent the various occupations and pursuits of contemporary American life when the building was completed in 1897.

America is represented as an American Indian, with a tall headdress of feathers, a bow and arrow, and a wampum necklace. With one hand he shades his eyes while he gazes intently into the distance and the future. Africa is represented with a war club and a necklace of the claws of a wild beast.