Ceiling Detail, Iowa House of Representatives
A fire in 1904 severely damaged the ceiling in the chamber of the Iowa House of Repesentatives. The chandeliers, plasterwork and other architectural detail seen here were put up after the fire. Not sure about the scores of smaller electric lights.
The interior of the Iowa State Capitol underwent recent restoration, so it is hard to know how much of the paint and guilding - if any - is original, or how faithful the restorations are to the original. But it beats looking at acres of institutional green paint.
A photo such as this produces perspectival aberrations that would make M.C. Escher proud. Aligning the image so any one plane is horizontal or vertical inevitably means other elements that should be horizontal or vertical won't be.
So take your pick: should the column be vertical or should the chandelier hang straight down? Can't have both. What amazing brains we have that correct for this automatically!
Ceiling Detail, Iowa House of Representatives
A fire in 1904 severely damaged the ceiling in the chamber of the Iowa House of Repesentatives. The chandeliers, plasterwork and other architectural detail seen here were put up after the fire. Not sure about the scores of smaller electric lights.
The interior of the Iowa State Capitol underwent recent restoration, so it is hard to know how much of the paint and guilding - if any - is original, or how faithful the restorations are to the original. But it beats looking at acres of institutional green paint.
A photo such as this produces perspectival aberrations that would make M.C. Escher proud. Aligning the image so any one plane is horizontal or vertical inevitably means other elements that should be horizontal or vertical won't be.
So take your pick: should the column be vertical or should the chandelier hang straight down? Can't have both. What amazing brains we have that correct for this automatically!