View allAll Photos Tagged USCapitolBuilding
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. that is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States. The neoclassical building was designed by John Russell Pope. It was built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and was completed during 1939-1943; the bronze statue of Jefferson was added inside in 1947. When completed, the memorial occupied one of the last significant sites left in the city.
• Parts: 36,800+ (~1,130 unique)
• 📐 Scale: 1:650
• 📏 Dimensions: 32in x 51in (80cm x 130cm)
• 📚 Research, Design + Build Time: 4 months
• Photography: James Vitullo 📷
• ©️ MMXXIV - Rocco Buttliere, LLC
___________________________________
During a brief stint in Washington D.C. in 2023, I spent the better part of a summer evening exploring the grounds of Capitol Hill. Few landscapes invite as much inquiry along winding paths paired with plenty of moments for quiet introspection on marble benches; all in picturesque view of the Capitol dome. These on-site experiences are exactly the form of anecdotal justification I seek when considering whether to recreate such monumental places in the first place.
In tackling any work of such storied precedence as the US Capitol, I always seek to expand the conversation beyond existing works in the medium of plastic bricks. While the consistent 1:650 scale among my works has always ensured some level of originality, it is no guarantee of further insight that cannot already be gleaned from existing works by other artists. With this in mind, I set out to capture the full 100-acre site currently maintained by The Architect of the Capitol. What's more, the diorama depicts a particular time of year - specifically late March to early April - as illustrated by the iconic presence of hundreds of cherry blossoms rendered in two shades of light pink.
The diorama starts downhill at the trapezoidal Capitol Reflecting Pool, with the Grant Memorial taking pride of place along its eastern edge and the US Botanic Garden across the street to the south. The diorama expands from there, capturing the radiating pathways meandering uphill, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted within the parcels laid out in the city plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The piece culminates with the widely imitated US Capitol Building, perched atop a plinth projecting from the Capitol Visitor Center on the opposite side.
Topping everything off is a custom-made representation of the Statue of Freedom (as designed by Thomas Crawford), steadfastly overlooking the National Mall from atop the dome. The statue was designed in collaboration with BigKidBrix and was sized comparably to the minifigure statuette / trophy element.
The piece was designed over the course of about two months: first in December 2023 through January 2024, paused during the build-out of SPQR - Phase II, then resumed between March and April. The build-out lasted from July through August and was completed by September. The piece will soon be added to my personal gallery of works, now available for touring exhibitions.
#Artist #SupportArtists #FineArt #SmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #ChicagoArtist #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture #LEGOArt #LEGOArtist #InstaLEGO #GoBricks #USCapitol #USCapitolBuilding #CapitolHill #WashingtonDC #ArchitectOfTheCapitol #America #USA #Diorama #AmericanHistory
The Old Post Office Pavilion was built in 1899 in the Richardsonian Romanesque Style. It served as the main post office until 1914.
Through the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's, many times when we visited Washington, DC, we went to the observation tower of the Old Post Office. It was free and there never was a wait. The view of the city was fantastic.
Now with the Washington Monument closed until Spring 2019, I expect long lines for the view. But the wait is worth it.
The view looking up Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol.
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. Designed by William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery Meigs, James Hoban, John Trumbull et al. The current cast-iron dome and the House's new southern extension and Senate new northern wing were designed by Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn, in the 1850s.
Rainbow arch over U.S. Capitol Building and Washington, D.C.
U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. Designed by William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery Meigs, James Hoban, John Trumbull et al. The current cast-iron dome and the House's new southern extension and Senate new northern wing were designed by Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn, in the 1850s.
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
U.S. Capitol Building (front), Washington, D.C. Behind left: U.S. Supreme Court, designed by Cass Gilbert; Behind right: Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. Top left: RFK Stadium, designed by George Leighton Dahl, Architects and Engineers, Inc.; Top right: DC Armory, designed by New York architect Electus D. Litchfield.
U.S. Capitol Building, Scaffolding, Washington, D.C. Designed by William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery Meigs, James Hoban, John Trumbull et al. The current cast-iron dome and the House's new southern extension and Senate new northern wing were designed by Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn, in the 1850s.
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
Anti-GOP (Impeach Trump) Demonstration before President Trump State of the Union Speech at US Capitol Building East Steps in NE Washington DC on Tuesday afternoon, 4 February 2020 by Elvert Barnes Photography
Elvert Barnes PROTEST PHOTOGRAPHY 2020 at elvertbarnes.com/protests2020.html
Trip to Washington DC for Catering / Before Work Series
• Parts: 36,800+ (~1,130 unique)
• 📐 Scale: 1:650
• 📏 Dimensions: 32in x 51in (80cm x 130cm)
• 📚 Research, Design + Build Time: 4 months
• Photography: James Vitullo 📷
• ©️ MMXXIV - Rocco Buttliere, LLC
___________________________________
During a brief stint in Washington D.C. in 2023, I spent the better part of a summer evening exploring the grounds of Capitol Hill. Few landscapes invite as much inquiry along winding paths paired with plenty of moments for quiet introspection on marble benches; all in picturesque view of the Capitol dome. These on-site experiences are exactly the form of anecdotal justification I seek when considering whether to recreate such monumental places in the first place.
In tackling any work of such storied precedence as the US Capitol, I always seek to expand the conversation beyond existing works in the medium of plastic bricks. While the consistent 1:650 scale among my works has always ensured some level of originality, it is no guarantee of further insight that cannot already be gleaned from existing works by other artists. With this in mind, I set out to capture the full 100-acre site currently maintained by The Architect of the Capitol. What's more, the diorama depicts a particular time of year - specifically late March to early April - as illustrated by the iconic presence of hundreds of cherry blossoms rendered in two shades of light pink.
The diorama starts downhill at the trapezoidal Capitol Reflecting Pool, with the Grant Memorial taking pride of place along its eastern edge and the US Botanic Garden across the street to the south. The diorama expands from there, capturing the radiating pathways meandering uphill, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted within the parcels laid out in the city plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The piece culminates with the widely imitated US Capitol Building, perched atop a plinth projecting from the Capitol Visitor Center on the opposite side.
Topping everything off is a custom-made representation of the Statue of Freedom (as designed by Thomas Crawford), steadfastly overlooking the National Mall from atop the dome. The statue was designed in collaboration with BigKidBrix and was sized comparably to the minifigure statuette / trophy element.
The piece was designed over the course of about two months: first in December 2023 through January 2024, paused during the build-out of SPQR - Phase II, then resumed between March and April. The build-out lasted from July through August and was completed by September. The piece will soon be added to my personal gallery of works, now available for touring exhibitions.
#Artist #SupportArtists #FineArt #SmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #ChicagoArtist #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture #LEGOArt #LEGOArtist #InstaLEGO #GoBricks #USCapitol #USCapitolBuilding #CapitolHill #WashingtonDC #ArchitectOfTheCapitol #America #USA #Diorama #AmericanHistory
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
National Mall, U.S. Capitol Building, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. LEFT: National Museum of Natural History, designed by Hornblower & Marshall.
U.S. Capitol Building, scaffolding, Washington, D.C. Designed by William Thornton, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Charles Bulfinch, Thomas U. Walter, Montgomery Meigs, James Hoban, John Trumbull et al. The current cast-iron dome and the House's new southern extension and Senate new northern wing were designed by Thomas U. Walter and August Schoenborn, in the 1850s.
Architects Paul J. Pelz, John L. Smithmeyer and Edward Pearce Casey designed the Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress.
• Parts: 36,800+ (~1,130 unique)
• 📐 Scale: 1:650
• 📏 Dimensions: 32in x 51in (80cm x 130cm)
• 📚 Research, Design + Build Time: 4 months
• Photography: James Vitullo 📷
• ©️ MMXXIV - Rocco Buttliere, LLC
___________________________________
During a brief stint in Washington D.C. in 2023, I spent the better part of a summer evening exploring the grounds of Capitol Hill. Few landscapes invite as much inquiry along winding paths paired with plenty of moments for quiet introspection on marble benches; all in picturesque view of the Capitol dome. These on-site experiences are exactly the form of anecdotal justification I seek when considering whether to recreate such monumental places in the first place.
In tackling any work of such storied precedence as the US Capitol, I always seek to expand the conversation beyond existing works in the medium of plastic bricks. While the consistent 1:650 scale among my works has always ensured some level of originality, it is no guarantee of further insight that cannot already be gleaned from existing works by other artists. With this in mind, I set out to capture the full 100-acre site currently maintained by The Architect of the Capitol. What's more, the diorama depicts a particular time of year - specifically late March to early April - as illustrated by the iconic presence of hundreds of cherry blossoms rendered in two shades of light pink.
The diorama starts downhill at the trapezoidal Capitol Reflecting Pool, with the Grant Memorial taking pride of place along its eastern edge and the US Botanic Garden across the street to the south. The diorama expands from there, capturing the radiating pathways meandering uphill, as designed by Frederick Law Olmsted within the parcels laid out in the city plan by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The piece culminates with the widely imitated US Capitol Building, perched atop a plinth projecting from the Capitol Visitor Center on the opposite side.
Topping everything off is a custom-made representation of the Statue of Freedom (as designed by Thomas Crawford), steadfastly overlooking the National Mall from atop the dome. The statue was designed in collaboration with BigKidBrix and was sized comparably to the minifigure statuette / trophy element.
The piece was designed over the course of about two months: first in December 2023 through January 2024, paused during the build-out of SPQR - Phase II, then resumed between March and April. The build-out lasted from July through August and was completed by September. The piece will soon be added to my personal gallery of works, now available for touring exhibitions.
#Artist #SupportArtists #FineArt #SmallBusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #ChicagoArtist #LEGO #LEGOArchitecture #LEGOArt #LEGOArtist #InstaLEGO #GoBricks #USCapitol #USCapitolBuilding #CapitolHill #WashingtonDC #ArchitectOfTheCapitol #America #USA #Diorama #AmericanHistory
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
Martin Luther King Jr. Bust
The bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been on display in the Capitol Rotunda since 1986. The bronze sculpture is 36 inches high on a 66-inch high Belgian black marble base.
•Artist: John Wilson
•Medium: Bronze
•Date: 1986
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Martin Luther King Jr. born in 1929 to a family of pastors and civil rights leaders, received a B.A. degree from Morehouse College in 1948, a B.D. degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951 and a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1955. He returned to Montgomery, Alabama, to work for civil rights while serving as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Already a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he gained national recognition as a leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1957, he founded and was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He traveled extensively, giving over 2,500 speeches, and wrote five books as well as numerous articles.
During his 1963 incarceration in Alabama he wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” He planned drives in Alabama for the registration of African-Americans as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people, to whom he delivered his “I Have a Dream” address in 1963; and he counseled Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
His actions brought about consideration and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, Dr. King was the youngest man to receive that honor.
On April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated.
The Bust
The bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s head and shoulders depicts Dr. King in a contemplative and peaceful mood, looking slightly downward. His face is smoothly modeled, in contrast to the textures of his hair and of his jacket and tie. The pedestal was designed by the sculptor to follow the lines of the shoulders of the bust, creating a unified shape and enhancing the monumental effect. The bronze sculpture is 36 inches high on a 66-inch high Belgian black marble base.
On December 21, 1982, the Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 153, which directed the procurement of a marble bust “to serve to memorialize [Dr. King’s] contributions on such matters as the historic legislation of the 1960s affecting civil rights and the right to vote.” Senator Charles McC. Mathias, 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.”
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. The competition was conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, using a panel selection process that the Endowment had successfully developed over the previous 20 years. Mrs. Coretta Scott King agreed to serve on the advisory committee and to advise the panel of “the salient qualities of Dr. King’s character and physical expression which the Panel should consider in evaluating the qualifications of the competitors.”
In December 1984, the panel selected John Wilson of Boston, Massachusetts; Elizabeth Catlett of New York City and Mexico; and Zenos Frudakis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as finalists in the competition. Each sculptor received a $500 grant to create a maquette (i.e., a model) for the panel to review before making its final decision. The Chairman of the Arts Endowment was proud to point out that “this was the first time that Arts Endowment was asked by Congress to prove the expertise of its peer review process, which specifies artistic excellence as its primary criterion to select an artist to create a work of art to be placed in the U.S. Capitol.” After reviewing the maquettes at a special meeting on April 15, 1985, the committee selected John Wilson; the artist was awarded a $50,000 commission to cast the model in bronze.
The bust was unveiled in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 16, 1986, the 57th anniversary of Dr. King’s birth, by Mrs. King, accompanied by their four children and Dr. King’s sister.
The Sculptor
African-American sculptor John Wilson was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1922. After graduating from Tufts University in 1947 he studied in Paris and Mexico City. He served as professor of art at Boston University from 1964 to 1986. He won prizes in national exhibitions from 1951 to 1969. His work is in the collections of the DeCordova Museum, the Smith Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the University of Wisconsin. His most notable work, Eternal Presence, is at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston. He also won the 1983 competition for the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Buffalo, New York.
Tried single raw image tone mapping, and overlapped tonemapped layer on top of layer of unsharp masked original image.
US Capitol Building Washington DC - Washington DC Stock Photography
The United States Capitol Building is located on Capitol Hill at the east end of the National Mall in Washington DC. The US Capitol is among the most symbollically important and architecturally impressive buildings in the United States. It has housed the meeting chambers of the US House of Representatives and US Senate for two centuries. An example of 19 century neo-claccical architecture. Architectural details include columns, porticos, arches, steps, the US Capitol dome and rotunda. A washington D.C. landmark and national icon it is a popular tourist attraction and travel destination in Washington DC.
All images on this site copyright Randy Santos 2007 - 2010
No unauthorized use of any image without written permission
All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
Martin Luther King Jr. Bust
The bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been on display in the Capitol Rotunda since 1986. The bronze sculpture is 36 inches high on a 66-inch high Belgian black marble base.
•Artist: John Wilson
•Medium: Bronze
•Date: 1986
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Martin Luther King Jr. born in 1929 to a family of pastors and civil rights leaders, received a B.A. degree from Morehouse College in 1948, a B.D. degree from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951 and a Ph.D. from Boston University in 1955. He returned to Montgomery, Alabama, to work for civil rights while serving as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Already a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he gained national recognition as a leader of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1957, he founded and was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He traveled extensively, giving over 2,500 speeches, and wrote five books as well as numerous articles.
During his 1963 incarceration in Alabama he wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” He planned drives in Alabama for the registration of African-Americans as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people, to whom he delivered his “I Have a Dream” address in 1963; and he counseled Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
His actions brought about consideration and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, Dr. King was the youngest man to receive that honor.
On April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated.
The Bust
The bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s head and shoulders depicts Dr. King in a contemplative and peaceful mood, looking slightly downward. His face is smoothly modeled, in contrast to the textures of his hair and of his jacket and tie. The pedestal was designed by the sculptor to follow the lines of the shoulders of the bust, creating a unified shape and enhancing the monumental effect. The bronze sculpture is 36 inches high on a 66-inch high Belgian black marble base.
On December 21, 1982, the Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 153, which directed the procurement of a marble bust “to serve to memorialize [Dr. King’s] contributions on such matters as the historic legislation of the 1960s affecting civil rights and the right to vote.” Senator Charles McC. Mathias, 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.”
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. The competition was conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts, using a panel selection process that the Endowment had successfully developed over the previous 20 years. Mrs. Coretta Scott King agreed to serve on the advisory committee and to advise the panel of “the salient qualities of Dr. King’s character and physical expression which the Panel should consider in evaluating the qualifications of the competitors.”
In December 1984, the panel selected John Wilson of Boston, Massachusetts; Elizabeth Catlett of New York City and Mexico; and Zenos Frudakis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as finalists in the competition. Each sculptor received a $500 grant to create a maquette (i.e., a model) for the panel to review before making its final decision. The Chairman of the Arts Endowment was proud to point out that “this was the first time that Arts Endowment was asked by Congress to prove the expertise of its peer review process, which specifies artistic excellence as its primary criterion to select an artist to create a work of art to be placed in the U.S. Capitol.” After reviewing the maquettes at a special meeting on April 15, 1985, the committee selected John Wilson; the artist was awarded a $50,000 commission to cast the model in bronze.
The bust was unveiled in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 16, 1986, the 57th anniversary of Dr. King’s birth, by Mrs. King, accompanied by their four children and Dr. King’s sister.
The Sculptor
African-American sculptor John Wilson was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1922. After graduating from Tufts University in 1947 he studied in Paris and Mexico City. He served as professor of art at Boston University from 1964 to 1986. He won prizes in national exhibitions from 1951 to 1969. His work is in the collections of the DeCordova Museum, the Smith Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the University of Wisconsin. His most notable work, Eternal Presence, is at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston. He also won the 1983 competition for the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Buffalo, New York.
Minton Tiles
The richly patterned and colored Minton tile floors are one of the most striking features of the extensions of the United States Capitol. They were first installed in 1856, when Thomas U. Walter was engaged in the design and construction of vast additions to the Capitol (1851-1865). For the floors in his extensions, Walter chose encaustic tile for its beauty, durability and sophistication.
•Artist: Minton, Hollins and Company
•Date: Installed in 1856
One striking example of the contrast between the interiors of the Old Capitol (finished in 1826) and the extensions (begun in 1851) may be seen in the differences in flooring materials. In the Old Capitol, stone pavers were used in corridors and other public spaces, such as the Rotunda and Crypt, while brick was used to floor committee rooms and offices. These materials, although durable and fireproof, would have looked plain and old-fashioned to the Victorian eye. In the mid-19th century, encaustic tile flooring was considered the most suitable and beautiful material for high-traffic areas. Unlike ordinary glazed tile, the pattern in encaustic tile is made of colored clays inlaid or imbedded in the clay ground. Because the color is part of the fabric of the encaustic tile, it will retain its beauty after years of wear. One observer noted:
“The indestructibility of tiles may be judged from the fact that the excavations at Pompeii have unearthed apartments where painted tiles are just as beautiful, the colors as fresh and bright as... when the fated city was in all its glory.”
Two types of tile were used at the U.S. Capitol: plain and inlaid encaustic tiles in a range of colors. Plain tiles were used as borders for the elaborate inlaid designs or to pave large corridor areas. They were available in seven colors: buff, red, black, drab, chocolate, light blue and white. Additional colors, such as cobalt blue, blue-gray, and light and dark green, appear in the inlaid encaustic tiles that form the elaborate centerpieces and architectural borders. They were made by “filling indentations in the unburnt tile with the desired colors and burning the whole together.”
The patterns and designs formed in the inlaid tiles were limited only by taste and imagination. They include geometric patterns such as the Greek key, guilloche, and basket weave; floral designs such as the fleur-de-lis; and figures such as dolphins and classical heads. Few of the patterns are repeated. Although most of the tiles are six-by-six-inch squares, some are round, triangular or pie-shaped. Approximately 1,000 different tile patterns are used in the corridors of the Capitol alone, and up to 100 different tiles may be needed to create a single design.
The original encaustic tiles in the Capitol extensions were manufactured at Stoke-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, England, by Minton, Hollins and Company. The firm’s patented tiles had won numerous gold medals at international exhibitions and were considered the best tiles made. In 1876, having seen Minton’s large display at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, one critic wrote, “Messr. Minton shone superior to all exhibits of the sort… and may be cited as showing the highest results in tile-pottery achieved by modern skill and research.”
Beginning in 1856, and continuing for five years, the tile was installed by the import firm of Miller and Coates of New York City. For the journey from New York to Washington, the tiles were packed in wooden casks weighing about 1100 pounds; each cask contained enough tiles to pave about 100 square feet. The cost of the tile ranged from $0.68 to $2.03 per square foot.
Thomas U. Walter had every reason to believe that the encaustic tile floors would last as long as his extensions stood. One visitor noted in 1859 that the tile floors vied with the beauty of marble and surpassed it in durability. While perhaps valid for other installations, however, this prediction proved overly optimistic for the Capitol Building. By 1924, the Minton tile was removed from the corridors in the first and second floors of the House Wing and replaced by “marble tile in patterns of a simple order.” In that day, marble was selected for its superior durability and because suitable replacement tile was difficult to find.
In the 1970s, however, a similar condition prompted a very different response. In 1972, a search was undertaken to determine a source of similar tiles in order to restore the original appearance of the building. Inquiries were made of all major American tile manufacturers, the American Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association, and even Mexican and Spanish tile suppliers. Although the colors and designs could be reproduced relatively easily, the patterns would quickly wear because they would be applied to the surface. The “inlaid” feature of the encaustic tiles, i.e., the approximately 1/8-inch thickness of the pattern and color, is the characteristic that enables the Minton tiles to be walked upon for over 100 years without signs of wear. It was this technique that formed the basic difficulty of manufacture.
Finally, as a result of the Capitol’s needs becoming generally known, the Architect of the Capitol was placed in contact with H & R Johnson Tiles Ltd., located at Stoke-on-Trent, England. It was discovered that that firm was a successor company to the Minton Tile Co. and had even retained many of the original hand tools and forms in a private museum at the company’s manufacturing site.
Contact was then made with Mr. James Ellis, the Directing Architect of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings for the Crown. He had been trying for many years to establish a program for the replacement of the worn Minton tiles at the Houses of Parliament but had more or less given up the attempt because of H & R Johnson’s continued unwillingness to revive the encaustic tile process. However, the restoration work at the Arts and Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution was in process at about the time the needs of the Capitol became known; it thus appeared that a market for such tiles was developing to the degree that the manufacturer began to reconsider its prior position. The company thus began the experiments that finally led to the present availability, after many decades, of the original Minton-type tiles.
Because the tiles in the Capitol are more decorative and have more complicated designs and color combinations than those in either the Houses of Parliament or the Smithsonian, those institutions were able to obtain replacement tiles sooner than the Capitol. The lessons learned in the manufacture of the simpler tiles served as a basis for filling the later needs.
Color photographs and full-sized drawings of the many required patterns were made and recorded, and many developmental submissions were made as the hand-made manufacturing process was re-developed. Finally, in 1986, the first acceptable tiles were delivered. The installation process was accomplished with modern cement adhesives and has yielded excellent results.
The program enabled the original tiles to be replaced with exact replicas. This project began on the first floor of the Senate wing, where the effects of 130 years of wear and tear were most noticeable. Replacement tile was closely scrutinized to ensure fidelity to the nineteenth-century originals. While difficult and slow, this process is the only fitting response to the history of the Capitol extensions, not only to restore the original beauty and elegance of these unique floors, but also to provide for their continuing attractiveness for the foreseeable future.