![http://www.aoc.gov/cc/capitol/capitol_construction.cfm
The Capitol Rotunda
Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, is shown with a wreath of wheat and a cornucopia, seated on a McCormick reaper. Young America in a liberty cap holds the reins of the horses, while Flora gathers flowers in the foreground.
The symbolic and physical heart of the United States Capitol is the Rotunda, an imposing circular room 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet in height. It is the principal circulation space in the Capitol, connecting the House and Senate sides, and is visited by thousands of people each day. The Rotunda is used for important ceremonial events as authorized by concurrent resolution, such as the lying in state of eminent citizens and the dedication of works of art.
As it appears today, the Rotunda is the result of two distinct building campaigns. Dr. William Thornton, who won the competition for the design of the Capitol in 1793, conceived the idea of a central rotunda. Due to a shortage of funds and materials, sporadic construction phases, and the fire set by the British in 1814, the Rotunda was not begun until 1818. The Rotunda was completed under the direction of Charles Bulfinch by the time of the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. Conceived in the age of neoclassicism, the Rotunda was intended to recall the Pantheon, the ancient Roman temple.
Bulfinch created in the Rotunda an ambitious orchestration of architecture, sculpture, and painting. The curved sandstone walls are divided by fluted Doric pilasters with wreaths of olive branches carved in the frieze above. Eight framed niches hold large historical paintings. Four revolutionary period scenes were commissioned by Congress from John Trumbull in 1817: Declaration of Independence (44k), Surrender of General Burgoyne (49k), Surrender of Lord Cornwallis (30k), and General George Washington Resigning his Commission (29k). They were placed between 1819 and 1824. Four scenes of early exploration were added between 1840 and 1855 : Landing of Columbus (28k) by John Vanderlyn, Discovery of the Mississippi (31k) by William Powell, Baptism of Pocahontas (29k) by John Chapman, and Embarkation of the Pilgrims (34k) by Robert Weir.
Four wreathed panels above the paintings frame portrait busts of the early explorers John Cabot (20k), Christopher Columbus (20k), Sir Walter Raleigh (19k), and Sieur de La Salle (19k). In the relief panels above the four entrances are scenes from American colonial history: Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians (28k) and Landing of the Pilgrims (54k) by Enrico Causici, Preservation of Captain Smith by Pocahontas (59k) by Antonio Capellano, and William Penn's Treaty with the Indians (30k) by Nicholas Gevelot.
The sandstone walls of the Rotunda rise 48 feet above the floor. Everything above this line was added between 1855 and 1866 by Thomas U. Walter, who designed the north and south extensions of the Capitol. Congress authorized the new high dome of fireproof cast iron to bring the center portion of the Capitol into harmony with the large new wings.
Walter's 1859 section of the new dome and enlarged Rotunda (35k) showed a fresco in the canopy over the eye of the inner dome and a sculpted frieze at the base of the dome. Constantino Brumidi painted The Apotheosis of Washington in true fresco on the canopy in 1865. The figures, up to 15 feet tall, were painted to be intelligible from close up as well as from 180 feet below. (Photographs of the inner dome and canopy [41k] and of the canopy fresco [42k] are available.)
The frescoed frieze in the belt just below the 36 windows was painted to give the illusion of a sculpted relief. The scenes designed by Brumidi trace America's history from its discovery by Columbus to the discovery of gold in California, with emphasis on Spanish explorers and the Revolutionary War. Brumidi prepared a sketch for the frieze in 1859, but he was not authorized to begin work until 1877. After Brumidi's death in 1880, Filippo Costaggini was commissioned to complete the eight remaining scenes following Brumidi's sketches. However, when the frieze was finished in 1889, a gap of over 31 feet remained. The frieze was finally completed by Allyn Cox in 1953 with scenes of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Birth of Aviation.
The statues and busts in the Rotunda are primarily of presidents, including a bust of George Washington by P.J. David d'Angers and a copy of a statue of him by Antoine Houdon. The marble statue of Abraham Lincoln is by Vinnie Ream, for whom Lincoln sat. She was the first woman artist to receive a government commission. Other former presidents commemorated with statues in the Rotunda include James Garfield, Ulysses Grant, Andrew Jackson, and Thomas Jefferson. The sculpture in the Rotunda also includes representations of the Marquis de Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The most recent addition is the Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, which was relocated from the Capitol Crypt in May 1997. The Magna Carta display, which features a gold replica of the original document, was a gift from the British government in 1976.](The%20Capitol%20Rotunda_files/shapeimage_3.png)
After these pondering this,
please continue on ....
- use links at top also -
Dedicated to all the Angels as they search for the truth. Those Living and those on The Other Side.
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Armored Freedom, sword raised and cape flying, with a helmet and shield reminiscent of those on the Statue of Freedom, tramples Tyranny and Kingly Power; she is assisted by a fierce eagle carrying arrows and a thunderbolt.
All these Paintings... are by Constantino Brumidi
Fresco 1865 Rotunda
Suspended 180 feet above the Rotunda floor, the fresco covers an area of 4,664 square feet. The figures, up to 15 feet tall, were painted to be intelligible from close up as well as from 180 feet below.
Brumidi depicted George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame. A rainbow arches at his feet, and thirteen maidens symbolizing the original states flank the three central figures. (The word "apotheosis" in the title means literally the raising of a person to the rank of a god, or the glorification of a person as an ideal; George Washington was honored as a national icon in the nineteenth century.
Minerva, goddess of wisdom and the arts of civilization, with helmet and spear, points to an electric generator creating power stored in batteries, next to a printing press, while inventors Benjamin Franklin, Samuel F. B. Morse, and Robert Fulton watch. At the left, a teacher demonstrates the use of dividers.
Neptune, god of the sea, holding his trident and crowned with seaweed, rides in a shell chariot drawn by sea horses. Venus, goddess of love born from the sea, helps lay the transatlantic cable. In the background is a form of iron-clad ship with smokestacks.
Mercury, god of commerce, with his winged cap and sandals and caduceus, hands a bag of gold to Robert Morris, financier of the Revolutionary War. On the left, men move a box on a dolly; on the right, the anchor and sailors lead into the next scene, "Marine."
Vulcan, god of the forge, stands at his anvil with his foot on a cannon, near a pile of cannon balls and with a steam engine in the background. The man at the forge is thought to represent Charles Thomas, who was in charge of the ironwork of the Capitol dome.
The Capitol Crypt
The large circular area on the first floor of the Capitol is called the Crypt. The forty Doric columns of brown stone surmounted by groined sandstone arches support the floor of the Rotunda and the massive nine ton iron dome. This center section of the building was completed in 1827 under the direction of the third Architect of the Capitol, Charles Bulfinch. The star in the center of the floor denotes the point from which the streets in Washington are laid out and numbered.
Under the jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol are the display cases that delineate architectural and historical events of the Capitol. Also on view are one of the original sandstone Corinthian column capitals from the East Front of the Capitol, and four models of the Capitol showing proposed designs as well as the building's present appearance.
Enrico Causici
Plaster
1817-1819
National Statuary Hall
Placed between 1817 and 1819, this group originally stood above the Speaker's desk when the House of Representatives met in this space. An American eagle stands to Liberty's right, and the scroll in her right hand is the Constitution of the United States. To her left a serpent, the symbol of wisdom, is entwined around a section of a column.
Carlo Franzoni
Marble
1819
National Statuary Hall
Clio, the Muse of History, stands in a winged chariot representing the passage of time and records events as they occur. The car rests on a marble globe on which signs of the Zodiac are carved in relief. The chariot wheel is the face of the clock; its works are by Simon Willard.
Architects of the Capitol
▪ Dr. William Thornton
▪ Benjamin Henry Latrobe
▪ Charles Bulfinch
▪ Thomas Ustick Walter
▪ Edward Clark
▪ Elliott Woods
▪ David Lynn
▪ J. George Stewart
▪ George M. White, FAIA
▪ Alan M. Hantman, FAIA
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Born: August 8, 1763, Boston, Massachusetts
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Died: April 15, 1844, Boston, Massachusetts
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Appointed by President James Monroe and the Commissioner of Public Buildings, January 8, 1818
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Office abolished June 25, 1829
Bulfinch constructed the Capitol's central section (shown in blue), including the Rotunda and the original dome.Bulfinch was among the first American-born architects of distinction. A Harvard graduate and self-trained architect, he had established himself as New England's leading architect before his tenure at the Capitol. He continued Latrobe's efforts to restore the north and south wings.
Construction on the center building began under Bulfinch's direction in 1818. Although he inherited plans from Thornton and Latrobe, Bulfinch modified them according to his own ideas and taste. He designed the original low wooden dome (which was replaced by the present cast-iron dome in the mid-1850s). He also planned the Capitol Grounds and the original west terraces. In 1829 Bulfinch completed the construction of the Capitol, 36 years after the cornerstone was laid.
Very strange, I wonder what these numbers refer to.. (forty columns) still researching this one (*see sidebar) and looking for a picture of the star in the center of the floor.
The Capitol Rotunda
I learned in school this country was founded on religious freedom... but I did not know that meant The Greek Gods with George Washington rising to their level of GODness.
*Hi. I just want to start this email by saying "what an amazing site" (in reference to Angels For Truth). Truly amazing. It was three years ago that I began to wake up. I just found your site tonight while hunting down facts on the statue "freedom" that tops the capitol. Yes, that is quite disturbing... but it fits completely with the death fetish of the "elite" (BonesMen & Masons meet in tombs after all). In your piece on the Rotunda, or the Crypt, you said you were doing some research on the significance of the 40 columns. I think I might have something for you. In the commonly accepted system of numerology used by many occultists the number 4 has a dual significance. One is the number of the Earth (4 seasons, 4 directions, 4 winds, etc.) but, though the earth is bountiful & full of life, in the twisted minds of these occultists (especially the early hermeticists --- precursors to the masons) the Earth & hence the number 4, was seen as death. This is also true in Asian culture. In both Japanese & Chinese (two mostly unrelated languages that share the occasional words & phrases) the number 4 is very close to the word for death & is generally avoided by the superstitious. Interestingly enough, the number 9 in both western occult tradition & Asian folklore is associated with death. In the western tradition it is the number of completion (as in the death of all...the entirety of existence) & in the eastern tradition it, again, closely resembles a word for death & is avoided. I believe the original dome for the capitol was 9 tons. I hope this may have helped. Thank you for your sight & your site.
