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Building
Behind the rostrum is a frontispiece with Ionic columns made of black Italian marble with white Alabama marble capitals. An American flag occupies the center and is flanked by two bronze fasces. The chamber's lower walls are walnut paneled with intervening light grey Genevieve Sheldorado marble pilasters. A gallery for visitors and the press corps rings the chamber on the upper level. The 23 marble relief portraits over the gallery doors of the House Chamber in the U.S. Capitol depict …
The House Chamber, also known as the "Hall of the House of Representatives," is a large assembly room located in the center of the U.S. Capitol's south wing.
Art
To her right sits an Indian maiden with a bow and arrows, representing the untamed American continent. Also at America's feet is a female figure representing History, who holds a stone tablet to record events as they occur. An American eagle perches on a fasces (a bundle of rods symbolizing the authority of government). The man in the background to their right is in the same pose as the prospector at the end of "Discovery of Gold in California," since artist Constantino Brumidi planned to have this scene connect with his last one. About the Frieze of …
The first panel contains the only allegorical figures in the frieze. America, wearing a liberty cap, stands in the center with her spear and shield.
Basic page
light bulbs Tholos Statue of Freedom Weight 15,000 pounds = approximate weight of 4 cars Height 38 feet tall Statue of Freedom with base = approximately as high 4 story building 19.5 feet statue height without pedestal 18.5 feet height of pedestal Base 12 wreaths are on the base of the Statue of Freedom 12 fasces , symbols of legislative authority, are above the wreaths Headdress 10 lightning rod points sit atop Freedom’s Roman inspired headdress with native American influences …
Dome Restoration 12,800 inches of cracked cast iron repaired ( 8,000 inches repaired with the "lock and stitch" and "Dutchman" techniques) 1,215 gallons of paint used to repaint the Dome - 3 layers x 405 gallons each. Final top coat color is "Dome White." 1.1 million lbs. weight of scaffold 75,000+
History & Discoveries
Article
The robed female figure representing the concept of freedom holds in her left hand a wreath composed of laurel leaves, and laurel wreaths also ring the base of the statue's pedestal, one beneath each of the 12 fasces (bundles of rods symbolizing the authority of the written law) that stretch upward to the encircling motto E Pluribus Unum . In classical Greece and Rome, the laurel represented accomplishment or triumph and was often awarded to the victors of games; this symbolism has persisted in Western culture …
This is the first in a series of articles, written by the Architect of the Capitol's Curator Office, about the use of nature in the art and architecture of the U.S. Capitol. The architecture of ancient Greece and Rome that inspired the United States Capitol ’s early architects and builders is noted
History & Discoveries
Article
French wrote that the covering was "made and trimmed by the hands of my wife." As described in The Evening Star and Daily Morning Chronicle on April 20, 1865, the “fine black cloth” was edged with silver fringe and fastened with silver stars. At each corner were "union columns," in the form of fasces, bundles of rods tied with silver lace. On either side were arranged pairs of guns, swords, and bayonets. In the Rotunda, Capitol employees covered the walls, the eight large paintings, the marble statue of the Dying Tecumseh (now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and other statues with black …
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death, AOC Curator Barbara Wolanin details the days he lay in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Art
She stands on a cast-iron pedestal topped with a globe encircled with the motto E Pluribus Unum (Out of many, one). The lower part of the pedestal is decorated with fasces (symbols of the authority of government) and wreaths. The pedestal is 18-1/2 feet high and almost doubles the total height. The crest of Freedom’s headdress rises 288 feet above the East Front Plaza. Statue of Freedom does not wear or hold a knitted liberty cap , as would have been expected in …
Statue of Freedom is the crowning feature of the Dome of the United States Capitol. The bronze statue stands 19 feet 6 inches tall and weighs approximately 15,000 pounds.