English: Placing the partially finished marble block that will constitute the expanded Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Image was taken in 1931. Memorial Amphitheater can be seen in the background.

As constructed in 1920, Memorial Amphitheater ended in a small plaza atop a retaining wall, with a granite balustrade on the edge. The following year, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added to this plaza. But the tomb was originally just a flat marble slab awaiting an appropriate monument. In 1926, Congress authorized the construction of a larger tomb cenotaph. Design work on and quarrying of this marble block took several years. The block was emplaced in 1931.

The marble block was only partially sculpted off-site. Sculpting of the bas-relief figures was done on-site by the Piccirilli Brothers firm under the direction of the sculptor Thomas Jones. As can be seen in this photograph, only the pilasters on the corners have been sculpted so far.