The United States Capitol rotunda is the central rotunda of the United States
Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Located below the Capitol dome, it is the
tallest part of the Capitol and has been described as its "symbolic and physical
heart." The rotunda is surrounded by corridors
connecting the House of Representatives and Senate sides of the Capitol. To the
south of the rotunda is the semi-circular National Statuary Hall,
which until 1857 was the House of Representatives chamber. To the
northeast of the rotunda is the Old Senate Chamber, used by the Senate until
1859 and by the Supreme Court of the United States until 1935.
The rotunda is 96 feet in diameter and rises 180 feet 3 inches to the canopy,
and is visited by thousands of people each day. It is surmounted by the
American Statue of Freedom. It is also used for ceremonial events authorized by
concurrent resolution, including the lying in state of honored people.
Design and construction The doctor and architect William
Thornton was the winner of the contest to design the Capitol in 1793. Thornton
had first conceived the idea of a central rotunda. However, due to lack of
funds or resources, oft-interrupted construction, and the British attack on
Washington during the War of 1812, work on the rotunda did not begin until 1818.
The rotunda was completed in 1824 under Architect of the Capitol Charles
Bulfinch, as part of a series of new buildings and projects in preparation
for the final visit of Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. The rotunda was
designed in the neoclassical style and was intended to evoke the design of the
Pantheon. The sandstone rotunda walls rise 48 feet
above the floor; everything above this—the Capitol dome–was designed in
1854 by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol. Walter had
also designed the Capitol's north and south extensions. Work on the dome began
in 1856, and in 1859, Walter redesigned the rotunda to consist of an inner and
outer dome, with a canopy suspended between them that would be visible
through an oculus at the top of the inner dome. In 1862, Walter asked
painter Constantino Brumidi to design "a picture 65 feet in diameter, painted in
fresco, on the concave canopy over the eye of the New Dome of the U.S.
Capitol." At this time, Brumidi may have added a watercolor canopy design over
Walter's tentative 1859 sketch. The dome was being finished in the middle of the
American Civil War and was constructed from fireproof cast iron. During the
Civil War, the rotunda was used as a military hospital for Union soldiers.
The dome was finally completed in 1866. = Renovation =
In January 2013, the Architect of the Capitol announced a four-year, $10
million project to repair and conserve the Captiol Dome's exterior and the
Capitol rotunda. The proposal would require the stripping of lead paint from
the interior of the dome, repair to the ironwork, repainting of the interior of
the dome, rehabilitation of the interstitial space between the dome and
rotunda, and installation of new lighting in the interstitial space and
the rotunda. The dome and rotunda, which were last conserved in 1960, are showing
significant signs of rust and disrepair. There is a danger that decorative
ironwork could fall from the rotunda to the space below, and that
weather-related problems could damage the artwork in the rotunda. Without
immediate repair, safety netting will be installed.
Apotheosis of Washington The Apotheosis of Washington is a large
fresco by Italian Constantino Brumidi, visible through the oculus of the dome
of the rotunda. The fresco depicts George Washington sitting exalted
amongst the heavens. It is suspended 180 feet above the rotunda floor and covers
an area of 4,664 square feet. Frieze of American History
The Frieze of American History is painted to appear as a carved stone
bas-relief frieze but is actually a trompe-l'œil fresco cycle depicting 19
scenes from American history. The "frieze" occupies a band immediately
below the 36 windows. Brumidi designed the frieze and prepared a sketch in 1859
but did not begin painting until 1878. Brumidi painted seven and a half scenes.
While working on "William Penn and the Indians," Brumidi fell off the
scaffolding and held on to a rail for 15 minutes until he was rescued. He died a
few months later in 1880. After Brumidi's death, Filippo Costaggini was
commissioned to complete the eight and a half remaining scenes in Brumidi's
sketches. He finished in 1889 and left a 31-foot gap due to an error in Brumidi's
original design. In 1951, Allyn Cox completed the frieze.
Except for the last three panels named by Allyn Cox, the scenes have no
particular titles and many variant titles have been given. The names given
here are the names used by the Architect of the Capitol, which uses the names
that Brumidi used most frequently in his letters and that were used in Edward
Clark and by newspaper articles. The 19 panels are:
Historical paintings Eight niches in the rotunda hold large,
framed historical paintings. All are oil-on-canvas and measure 12 by 18 feet.
Four of these are scenes from the American Revolution, painted by John
Trumbull, who was commissioned by Congress to do the work in 1817. These
are Declaration of Independence, Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender
of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning his Commission.
These were placed between 1819 and 1824. Between 1840 and 1855, four more
paintings were added. These depicted the exploration and colonization of America
and were all done by different artists. These paintings are Landing of Columbus
by John Vanderlyn, Discovery of the Mississippi by William Henry Powell,
Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman, and Embarkation of the Pilgrims
by Robert Walter Weir. Statues in the Rotunda
= From the Statuary Hall Collection = Among the group of eleven statues
currently encircling the rotunda against the wall at floor level are six from the
National Statuary Hall Collection: George Washington, in bronze, from
Virginia, by Jean Antoine Houdon. Andrew Jackson in bronze, from
Tennessee, by Belle Kinney Sholz and Leopold F. Sholz, in 1928.
James Garfield in marble, from Ohio, by Charles Niehaus in 1886.
Dwight D. Eisenhower in bronze, from Kansas, by Jim Brothers in 2003.
Ronald Reagan in bronze, from California, by Chas Fagan in 2009.
Gerald Ford in bronze, from Michigan, by J. Brett Gill in 2011.
These six presidents will remain in the rotunda indefinitely or until an act of
Congress. = George Washington =
The bronze statue of George Washington is a prominent feature of the U.S.
Capitol rotunda, cast by William James Hubard in 1853. It is one of multiple
castings from the marble portrait of Washington that was carved in 1790 by
the French neo-classical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Houdon's sculptures
have also been used as models for other artists, including the various engravers
of the United States Mint who have modeled their engravings of George
Washington after his work. = Abraham Lincoln =
Gutzon Borglum had a fascination with large scale art and themes of heroic
nationalism. His head of Abraham Lincoln, carved from a six-ton block of
marble, was exhibited in Theodore Roosevelt's White House and is now
residing in the Crypt below the Rotunda. Borglum was a patriot, believing that
the "monuments we have built are not our own," he looked to create art that was
"American, drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement"
according to a 1908 interview article. Supposedly, according to legend, the
marble head remains unfinished to symbolize Lincoln's unfinished life.
= James Garfield = James Garfield was the last American
president to be born in a log cabin. Sculptor Niehaus returned to America in
1881 and by virtue of being a native Ohioan was commissioned to sculpt a
monument to the recently assassinated President James Garfield, who was also
from Ohio. = Martin Luther King, Jr. =
The bust of his head and shoulders is 36 inches high and stands on a pyramidal
Belgian black marble base that is 66 inches high. Because the bust would be
such an important and visible work of art, the Joint Committee on the Library
decided to have a national competition to select a sculptor.
On December 21, 1982, the Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 153,
which directed the procurement of a marble bust "to serve to memorialize
King's contributions on such matters as the historic legislation of the 1960s
affecting civil rights and the right to vote." Senator Charles Mathias, Jr.,
Chairman of the Joint Committee on the Library, the congressional committee
overseeing the procurement, said at the unveiling that "Martin Luther King takes
his rightful place among the heroes of this nation."
John Wilson; the artist was awarded a $50,000 commission to cast the model in
bronze. The bust was unveiled in the Rotunda on January 16, 1986, the
fifty-seventh anniversary of Dr. King's birth, by Mrs. King, accompanied by
their four children and Dr. King's sister.
= Women's suffrage = This group portrait monument is known
formally as the Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
and Susan B. Anthony, pioneers of the women's suffrage movement in the United
States. Their efforts led to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The work
was sculpted by Adelaide Johnson from a 16,000-pound block of marble in Carrara,
Italy. The portraits are copies of the individual busts she carved for the
Court of Honor of the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in
1893. The detailed busts are surrounded by rough-hewn marble at the top of the
sculpture. This part of the statue, according to some, is left unfinished
representing the unfinished work of women's rights. Contrary to a popular
story, the intention was not that it be completed upon the ascension of the
first female President — the rough-hewn section is too small to carry a
proportional bust. The monument was presented to the Capitol as a gift from
the women of the United States by the National Woman's Party and was accepted
on behalf of Congress by the Joint Committee on the Library on February 10,
1921. The unveiling ceremony was held in the Rotunda on February 15, 1921, the
101st anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, and was attended by
representatives of over 70 women's organizations. Shortly after its
unveiling, however, the statue was moved into the Capitol Crypt. It remained on
display there for 75 years, until HCR 216 ordered it moved to the Rotunda. The
statue was placed in its current location, in the Rotunda, in May 1997.
= Other statuary and artifacts = In addition to the National Statuary
Hall Collection and the memorial statuary, there are a number of other
pieces in the Rotunda. Next to the south entrance, opposite of the statue of
George Washington, is a bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration of
Independence. Donated by Uriah P. Levy, it is the only work of art in the
Capitol given by a private donor. At the west entrance, are marble statues of
General Ulysses S. Grant and President Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln statue was
a commissioned by Congress and designed by Vinnie Ream. The statue of Grant was
a gift to Congress by the Grand Army of the Republic. Located in the southwest
portion of the Rotunda is a statue of Alexander Hamilton
= The Crypt and National Flame = Originally the crypt had an open ceiling
into the rotunda. Visitors can still see the holes in the stone circle that
marked the rim of the open space in the rotunda floor. After Washington's wife
Martha had declined to have his tomb set up in the Crypt, his fellows made a
motion to instead place a flame there representing the founding values of the
nation to be burning eternally: "When the Crypt was first constructed,
Congress appointed a keeper of it, and ordered a light to be kept burning
continuously within it. This light was not extinguished for over fifty years,
and it was not until after the Civil War that the office of 'Keeper of the Crypt'
was abolished." Lying in state and honor
The main difference between lying in state and lying in honor is the
designated guard of honor that keeps watch over the casket. When lying in
state, a guard of honor from the United States Armed Forces watch over the
casket; when lying in honor, the United States Capitol Police watches as a
civilian guard of honor over the casket. = Lain in state =
People to have lain in state in the Capitol rotunda are as follows:
= Lain in honor = People to have lain in honor in the
United States Capitol Rotunda are as follows:
Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson Rosa Parks
Other notable individuals, several of them being the Chief Justice of the
United States, have lain in state in the United States Supreme Court Building
while other individuals such as Ronald H. Brown, have lain in state in the
Herbert C. Hoover Building. References
External links Capitol Rotunda from the Architect of
the Capitol website