Thomas Jefferson, Statue in Cleveland, United States

The Thomas Jefferson is a 1911 bronze statue by Karl Bitter, about 180 cm tall, seated in a klismos chair and holding papers of state. It flanks the entrance steps of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio, paired with Bitter's seated Alexander Hamilton; both were cast by Roman Bronze Works.

In 1909 Karl Bitter was commissioned to make a seated bronze Jefferson and a seated bronze Alexander Hamilton to flank the entrance steps of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Both were cast by Roman Bronze Works and installed in 1911; the Jefferson stands about 72 in (180 cm) tall. Bitter also carved two marble attic figures for the courthouse, John Somers and Lord Mansfield.

The statue's base carries inscriptions quoting Jefferson, including "The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture" on the east side and a passage on majority will and minority rights on the west. The plinth records the gift of alumni and students of Jefferson High School and the school board, dated June 1915.

The statue stands outside the Cuyahoga County Courthouse entrance steps in downtown Cleveland, paired with Bitter's seated Alexander Hamilton. It is a public outdoor sculpture, viewable at any hour from the surrounding plaza; look for the klismos chair and the papers of state in Jefferson's hand.

The Cleveland statue depicts Jefferson at 33, his age when he wrote the Declaration of Independence; the larger 1913 marble version in St. Louis shows him at 60, his age during the Louisiana Purchase. Bitter's one-quarter-size plaster model for the St. Louis figure is held by the St. Louis Art Museum.