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Ulysses S. Grant Statue
This statue depicts American general and president Ulysses S. Grant in the uniform of the Union army. On his shoulders are four stars denoting him as “General of the Army of the United States,” a rank that he was the first to hold.
•Artist: Franklin Simmons
•Medium: Marble
•Date: 1899
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1839, he arrived to learn that he had been erroneously enrolled as Ulysses Simpson (his mother’s maiden name) Grant. The roll could not be corrected, so Grant changed his name. Upon graduation he was posted near St. Louis, where he met his future wife, Julia Dent. After distinguished service in the Mexican War and at several garrison postings, he resigned his commission in 1854.
Volunteering to return to service in the Union cause after the start of the Civil War, Grant held a series of increasingly responsible commands and was the strategist of victories that earned him national attention. He also earned the respect of President Abraham Lincoln, and his achievements at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Appomattox were decisive in the course and outcome of the war.
After the war, Grant initially supported the reconstruction of the South but grew disenchanted to the point of supporting President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. Running as a Republican for president, he was easily elected in 1868 and re-elected in 1872. His political inexperience and misplaced trust in unscrupulous advisers, however, led to scandal despite his own innocence of corruption. After leaving office he toured the world with his family and unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination in 1880. A partnership in a brokerage firm that failed left him bankrupt.
He spent the last months of his life writing his war memoirs, which were published posthumously by Mark Twain and ultimately earned his family $450,000. Grant died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885, and is entombed with his wife in New York City, in a mausoleum on Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River.
The Statue
In Grant’s statue, he looks slightly to his left with a serious expression. On his shoulders are four stars denoting him as “General of the Army of the United States,” a rank that he was the first to hold. A cape is draped over his left forearm, and his left hand holds the grip and guard of a sheathed sword. His right arm, with gloved hand, hangs by his side. Over his trousers are knee-high boots, and his left foot comes to the front of the self base. The tree stump behind his right leg provides support for the statue.
On the front of the self base is inscribed “GEN. U. S. GRANT”; at the front of the proper right side is inscribed “FRANKLIN SIMMONS / FECIT 1899.” The right and left sides of the pedestal are inscribed “PRESENTED BY / THE GRAND ARMY / OF THE REPUBLIC”; the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was an organization of Union Army veterans. On the front of the pedestal, crossed bronze laurel and oak branches (symbolic of victory and strength, respectively) underlie a bronze relief plaque depicting the GAR badge in the form of a medal.
The Sculptor
Sculptor Franklin Simmons, born in Maine in 1839, developed an early interest in painting and sculpture. After college he moved to Washington, D.C., where he sculpted relief portrait busts of cabinet members and military officers. In 1867, he moved with his wife to Rome and established a studio; except for occasional trips back to the United States, he remained there for the rest of his life. Working in the neoclassical style, he created statues and busts of figures from public life, mythology, and literature.
He was commissioned by the Grand Army of the Republic to sculpt a statue of General Grant to be given to the Congress, and legislation passed in 1890 authorized its acceptance. The first statue that Simmons created was not approved because it was not a good likeness; he sent a second version in 1899, and it was placed in the Rotunda in 1900.
His other works on Capitol Hill include the Peace Monument on the Capitol Grounds; statues of William King, Francis Harrison Pierpont, and Roger Williams in the National Statuary Hall collection; and busts of Vice Presidents Charles W. Fairbanks, Hannibal Hamlin and Adlai E. Stevenson in the United States Senate collection. Simmons died in Rome in 1913.
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:
Ulysses S. Grant Statue
This statue depicts American general and president Ulysses S. Grant in the uniform of the Union army. On his shoulders are four stars denoting him as “General of the Army of the United States,” a rank that he was the first to hold.
•Artist: Franklin Simmons
•Medium: Marble
•Date: 1899
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822, in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1839, he arrived to learn that he had been erroneously enrolled as Ulysses Simpson (his mother’s maiden name) Grant. The roll could not be corrected, so Grant changed his name. Upon graduation he was posted near St. Louis, where he met his future wife, Julia Dent. After distinguished service in the Mexican War and at several garrison postings, he resigned his commission in 1854.
Volunteering to return to service in the Union cause after the start of the Civil War, Grant held a series of increasingly responsible commands and was the strategist of victories that earned him national attention. He also earned the respect of President Abraham Lincoln, and his achievements at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Appomattox were decisive in the course and outcome of the war.
After the war, Grant initially supported the reconstruction of the South but grew disenchanted to the point of supporting President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. Running as a Republican for president, he was easily elected in 1868 and re-elected in 1872. His political inexperience and misplaced trust in unscrupulous advisers, however, led to scandal despite his own innocence of corruption. After leaving office he toured the world with his family and unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination in 1880. A partnership in a brokerage firm that failed left him bankrupt.
He spent the last months of his life writing his war memoirs, which were published posthumously by Mark Twain and ultimately earned his family $450,000. Grant died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885, and is entombed with his wife in New York City, in a mausoleum on Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River.
The Statue
In Grant’s statue, he looks slightly to his left with a serious expression. On his shoulders are four stars denoting him as “General of the Army of the United States,” a rank that he was the first to hold. A cape is draped over his left forearm, and his left hand holds the grip and guard of a sheathed sword. His right arm, with gloved hand, hangs by his side. Over his trousers are knee-high boots, and his left foot comes to the front of the self base. The tree stump behind his right leg provides support for the statue.
On the front of the self base is inscribed “GEN. U. S. GRANT”; at the front of the proper right side is inscribed “FRANKLIN SIMMONS / FECIT 1899.” The right and left sides of the pedestal are inscribed “PRESENTED BY / THE GRAND ARMY / OF THE REPUBLIC”; the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was an organization of Union Army veterans. On the front of the pedestal, crossed bronze laurel and oak branches (symbolic of victory and strength, respectively) underlie a bronze relief plaque depicting the GAR badge in the form of a medal.
The Sculptor
Sculptor Franklin Simmons, born in Maine in 1839, developed an early interest in painting and sculpture. After college he moved to Washington, D.C., where he sculpted relief portrait busts of cabinet members and military officers. In 1867, he moved with his wife to Rome and established a studio; except for occasional trips back to the United States, he remained there for the rest of his life. Working in the neoclassical style, he created statues and busts of figures from public life, mythology, and literature.
He was commissioned by the Grand Army of the Republic to sculpt a statue of General Grant to be given to the Congress, and legislation passed in 1890 authorized its acceptance. The first statue that Simmons created was not approved because it was not a good likeness; he sent a second version in 1899, and it was placed in the Rotunda in 1900.
His other works on Capitol Hill include the Peace Monument on the Capitol Grounds; statues of William King, Francis Harrison Pierpont, and Roger Williams in the National Statuary Hall collection; and busts of Vice Presidents Charles W. Fairbanks, Hannibal Hamlin and Adlai E. Stevenson in the United States Senate collection. Simmons died in Rome in 1913.
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:
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
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:
Despite the requests they wouldn't move the buses. A freezing morning kept people away and lovely lighting
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:
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:
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) flies near the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, April 17, 2012, in Washington. Discovery, the first orbiter retired from NASA’s shuttle fleet, completed 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited the Earth 5,830 times, and traveled 148,221,675 miles. NASA will transfer Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum to begin its new mission to commemorate past achievements in space and to educate and inspire future generations of explorers. Photo Credit: (NASA/Rebecca Roth)
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.
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:
A young man in a mask protests at the US Capitol building during at the September 15, 2007, march on Washington, DC, to end the Iraq war.
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.
110529-N-TT977-329
Actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna co-host the 2011 National Memorial Day Concert at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2011. (Department of Defense photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley/Released)
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:
Below the eagle and the canopy is the desk of the Vice President of the United States. The Constitution provides that “The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate….” (Art. I, Sec. 3). This original desk, faced with a red “modesty” curtain, was used by every vice president from George Clinton to John Breckinridge.
Suspended above the vice president’s chair is a carved gilded eagle and shield, a symbol of the strength and unity of the young American republic. The piece was planned by Latrobe for the chamber. While the date of the actual installation is unknown, an 1829 guidebook describes the vice president’s chair as “canopied by crimson drapery, richly embossed and held by talons of an o’er hovering eagle.”
Reproduction of Senate Chamber Desk
•Desk, Senate Chamber (Reproduction)
•by Engelhard and Koenig, Inc.
•Mahogany, mahogany veneer, 1976
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 33.25 inches (84.5 cm)
oWidth: 29.5 inches (74.9 cm)
oDepth: 19 inches (48.3 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00042.018
Reproduction of Senate Chamber Chair
•Chair, Senate Chamber (Reproduction)
•by Engelhard and Koenig, Inc.
•Mahogany, loose leather cushion stuffed with hair, on cane seat, 1976
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 37 inches (94 cm)
oWidth: 23 inches (58.4 cm)
oDepth: 22 inches (55.9 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00043.001
Vice President’s Desk
•Desk, Vice President’s
•by Thomas Constantine (attributed)
•Mahogany, wool, 1819 ca.
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 31.13 inches (79.1 cm)
oWidth: 75.38 inches (191.5 cm)
oDepth: 25.50 inches (64.8 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00044.000
This mahogany desk was likely made by Thomas Constantine, a cabinetmaker from New York. Following the Capitol’s near destruction in 1814 by invading British forces, Constantine was paid for supplying the Senate with, among other items, one “Large Desk for President of Senate” as a cost of $140.
A similar style desk is depicted in engravings of the chamber that date as early as 1848. The desk was used by the Senate until 1859 when they vacated the room for their new chamber. Likely put into storage when the Supreme Court took over the space, the desk was later returned to the Senate in 1973 for the restoration of the historic room.
Large Podium Desk
•Desk, Large Podium
•by Engelhard and Koenig, Inc.
•Mahogany, 1976
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 32.12 inches (81.59 cm)
oWidth: 130 inches (330.2 cm)
oDepth: 17 inches (43.18 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00046.001
Eagle and Shield
•Eagle and Shield
•by Unidentified
•Wood, gilded, 1838 ca.
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 53.5 inches (135.9 cm)
oWidth: 72 inches (182.9 cm)
oDepth: 23 inches (58.4 cm)
•Unsigned
•Cat. no. 25.00003.000
It is difficult to document the origin of the Senate’s gilded wood Eagle and Shield, which currently adorns the dais in the Old Senate Chamber. An 1809 plan for the room shows that architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe intended to hang an eagle crest and elaborate canopy over the vice president’s desk. His drawing also includes an oval cartouche or escutcheon of unspecified design on the eagle’s breast. However, Latrobe’s bird, with drooping wings, lacks the majesty and drama of the soaring eagle that exists today in the Old Senate Chamber. It is unclear whether his design ever became reality—any evidence would have been destroyed when British troops burned the Capitol in 1814.
Further, records of the art in the Old Senate Chamber are notably scarce. The first reliable evidence of an eagle and shield located in this room appears in an 1838 article in the Daily National Intelligencer. It describes a “rich burnished shield, with an outer margin in the old French style, surmounted by an eagle of the size of life” hanging above the vice president’s dais in the room. [1] From this report it appears that the shield we know today existed from at least 1838, although the official records remain unclear on the matter. In 1846, Senate records indicate payment for “taking down curtains and drapery & irons for Eagle & shield.” The eagle and shield also appear in two mid-19th-century engravings: Thomas Doney’s United States Senate Chamber, published in 1846, and Robert Whitechurch’s The United States Senate, A.D. 1850, dated 1855. In addition, Senate records note that in 1847 a John Wagner was paid $10 for “carving & gilding 1 scroll for eagle,” although the Whitechurch engraving shows no such ribbon in the eagle’s beak.
After the Senate left the room and moved into its new Chamber in 1859, the Supreme Court of the United States used the space. Photographs from this period show that the shield was placed in the outer vestibule, over the door to the Chamber, while the eagle remained in the room. The ornate canopy that hung over the vice president’s desk was removed, and the eagle, now perched on a ribbon-draped horizontal bar, was affixed to the gallery balustrade above the chief justice’s desk. The Court occupied the room until 1935, when it moved to its new building across the street from the Capitol. For several more decades the Eagle and Shield remained in the same locations they occupied during the Court years—the eagle inside the room on the gallery balustrade, and the shield outside over the Chamber’s door. In 1976 the two pieces were reunited inside the room for the restoration of the Old Senate Chamber.
Numerous artistic renderings of eagles are found in the United States Capitol, but the Eagle and Shield in the Old Senate Chamber has become the enduring symbol of the Senate. In 1838 Daniel Webster immortalized the Senate’s eagle as an icon of American patriotism when delivering one of the impassioned speeches for which he was famous. From the floor of the Senate, with the gilded eagle gazing down on him from above the vice president’s dais, he proclaimed, “We have made these struggles here, in the national councils, with the old flag, the true American flag, the Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the chamber in which we sit.” [2]
1.“The Capitol,” Daily National Intelligencer, 3 December 1838.
2.Congressional Globe (12 March 1838) 25th Cong., 2d sess.: 641.
More on Eagle and Shield
In 1782 Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States, which featured an American bald eagle with wings proudly spread. William Barton, one of the Great Seal’s designers, explained that, “The Eagle displayed is the Symbol of supreme Power & Authority, and signifies the Congress.” [1] It is not surprising that the eagle, which occupies such a prominent position on the seal, was meant to symbolize congressional strength. The Articles of Confederation, ratified the previous year, had established Congress as the only federal authority, assigning to it alone many of the powers that the Constitution of 1787 later divided among three separate branches of government.
Shortly after the seal’s adoption the eagle became a symbol, not just for Congress, but for the nation as a whole. The eagle soon began appearing on fabrics, coins, buttons, furniture, and ships’ figureheads. As successive events inflamed patriotic fervor—from the adoption of the Constitution, to George Washington’s inauguration, to the War of 1812—a profusion of eagles spread throughout the American decorative vocabulary.
The shield is no less important in American iconography. First appearing in 1782 as the escutcheon on the eagle’s breast in the Great Seal, the shield proved an apt metaphor for the recently united nation. The pales, or vertical stripes on the shield, symbolize the original 13 colonies standing as one. They support—and at the same time are joined by—the chief, or field at the top of the shield, which represents the unifying authority of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Like the eagle, the shield also is more broadly associated with patriotism and the strength of American democracy.
1.Richard Sharpe Patterson and Richardson Dougall, The Eagle and the Shield: A History of the Great Seal of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State, 1976. Department of State Publication 8900, Department and Foreign Service Series 161), 88.
Below the eagle and the canopy is the desk of the Vice President of the United States. The Constitution provides that “The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate….” (Art. I, Sec. 3). This original desk, faced with a red “modesty” curtain, was used by every vice president from George Clinton to John Breckinridge.
Suspended above the vice president’s chair is a carved gilded eagle and shield, a symbol of the strength and unity of the young American republic. The piece was planned by Latrobe for the chamber. While the date of the actual installation is unknown, an 1829 guidebook describes the vice president’s chair as “canopied by crimson drapery, richly embossed and held by talons of an o’er hovering eagle.”
Vice President’s Desk
•Desk, Vice President’s
•by Thomas Constantine (attributed)
•Mahogany, wool, 1819 ca.
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 31.13 inches (79.1 cm)
oWidth: 75.38 inches (191.5 cm)
oDepth: 25.50 inches (64.8 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00044.000
This mahogany desk was likely made by Thomas Constantine, a cabinetmaker from New York. Following the Capitol’s near destruction in 1814 by invading British forces, Constantine was paid for supplying the Senate with, among other items, one “Large Desk for President of Senate” as a cost of $140.
A similar style desk is depicted in engravings of the chamber that date as early as 1848. The desk was used by the Senate until 1859 when they vacated the room for their new chamber. Likely put into storage when the Supreme Court took over the space, the desk was later returned to the Senate in 1973 for the restoration of the historic room.
Large Podium Desk
•Desk, Large Podium
•by Engelhard and Koenig, Inc.
•Mahogany, 1976
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 32.12 inches (81.59 cm)
oWidth: 130 inches (330.2 cm)
oDepth: 17 inches (43.18 cm)
•Cat. no. 65.00046.001
Eagle and Shield
•Eagle and Shield
•by Unidentified
•Wood, gilded, 1838 ca.
•Overall Measurement:
oHeight: 53.5 inches (135.9 cm)
oWidth: 72 inches (182.9 cm)
oDepth: 23 inches (58.4 cm)
•Unsigned
•Cat. no. 25.00003.000
It is difficult to document the origin of the Senate’s gilded wood Eagle and Shield, which currently adorns the dais in the Old Senate Chamber. An 1809 plan for the room shows that architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe intended to hang an eagle crest and elaborate canopy over the vice president’s desk. His drawing also includes an oval cartouche or escutcheon of unspecified design on the eagle’s breast. However, Latrobe’s bird, with drooping wings, lacks the majesty and drama of the soaring eagle that exists today in the Old Senate Chamber. It is unclear whether his design ever became reality—any evidence would have been destroyed when British troops burned the Capitol in 1814.
Further, records of the art in the Old Senate Chamber are notably scarce. The first reliable evidence of an eagle and shield located in this room appears in an 1838 article in the Daily National Intelligencer. It describes a “rich burnished shield, with an outer margin in the old French style, surmounted by an eagle of the size of life” hanging above the vice president’s dais in the room. [1] From this report it appears that the shield we know today existed from at least 1838, although the official records remain unclear on the matter. In 1846, Senate records indicate payment for “taking down curtains and drapery & irons for Eagle & shield.” The eagle and shield also appear in two mid-19th-century engravings: Thomas Doney’s United States Senate Chamber, published in 1846, and Robert Whitechurch’s The United States Senate, A.D. 1850, dated 1855. In addition, Senate records note that in 1847 a John Wagner was paid $10 for “carving & gilding 1 scroll for eagle,” although the Whitechurch engraving shows no such ribbon in the eagle’s beak.
After the Senate left the room and moved into its new Chamber in 1859, the Supreme Court of the United States used the space. Photographs from this period show that the shield was placed in the outer vestibule, over the door to the Chamber, while the eagle remained in the room. The ornate canopy that hung over the vice president’s desk was removed, and the eagle, now perched on a ribbon-draped horizontal bar, was affixed to the gallery balustrade above the chief justice’s desk. The Court occupied the room until 1935, when it moved to its new building across the street from the Capitol. For several more decades the Eagle and Shield remained in the same locations they occupied during the Court years—the eagle inside the room on the gallery balustrade, and the shield outside over the Chamber’s door. In 1976 the two pieces were reunited inside the room for the restoration of the Old Senate Chamber.
Numerous artistic renderings of eagles are found in the United States Capitol, but the Eagle and Shield in the Old Senate Chamber has become the enduring symbol of the Senate. In 1838 Daniel Webster immortalized the Senate’s eagle as an icon of American patriotism when delivering one of the impassioned speeches for which he was famous. From the floor of the Senate, with the gilded eagle gazing down on him from above the vice president’s dais, he proclaimed, “We have made these struggles here, in the national councils, with the old flag, the true American flag, the Eagle, and the Stars and Stripes, waving over the chamber in which we sit.” [2]
1.“The Capitol,” Daily National Intelligencer, 3 December 1838.
2.Congressional Globe (12 March 1838) 25th Cong., 2d sess.: 641.
More on Eagle and Shield
In 1782 Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States, which featured an American bald eagle with wings proudly spread. William Barton, one of the Great Seal’s designers, explained that, “The Eagle displayed is the Symbol of supreme Power & Authority, and signifies the Congress.” [1] It is not surprising that the eagle, which occupies such a prominent position on the seal, was meant to symbolize congressional strength. The Articles of Confederation, ratified the previous year, had established Congress as the only federal authority, assigning to it alone many of the powers that the Constitution of 1787 later divided among three separate branches of government.
Shortly after the seal’s adoption the eagle became a symbol, not just for Congress, but for the nation as a whole. The eagle soon began appearing on fabrics, coins, buttons, furniture, and ships’ figureheads. As successive events inflamed patriotic fervor—from the adoption of the Constitution, to George Washington’s inauguration, to the War of 1812—a profusion of eagles spread throughout the American decorative vocabulary.
The shield is no less important in American iconography. First appearing in 1782 as the escutcheon on the eagle’s breast in the Great Seal, the shield proved an apt metaphor for the recently united nation. The pales, or vertical stripes on the shield, symbolize the original 13 colonies standing as one. They support—and at the same time are joined by—the chief, or field at the top of the shield, which represents the unifying authority of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Like the eagle, the shield also is more broadly associated with patriotism and the strength of American democracy.
1.Richard Sharpe Patterson and Richardson Dougall, The Eagle and the Shield: A History of the Great Seal of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State, 1976. Department of State Publication 8900, Department and Foreign Service Series 161), 88.
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.
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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:
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
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All images are very high quality image files available for license in various media. Please contact for license or visit:
Police in riot gear were out in force for the "Justice for J6" rally in Washington, DC on September 18th, 2021
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and US Capitol building set against an orange sky during morning twilight in Washington, DC.
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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:
Thomas Jefferson Statue
The statue of Thomas Jefferson was the first full-length portrait statue placed in the U.S Capitol Building. Its bronze medium was unusual in early 19th-century America, where sculpture was more commonly carved in marble.
•Artist: Pierre-Jean David d’Angers
•Medium: Bronze
•Date: 1834
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at his prosperous family’s home in Albemarle County, Virginia. He attended the College of William and Mary. After graduating in 1762, he studied the law, was admitted to the bar in 1767, and practiced for several years. In 1772, Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton; the couple would have six children, only two of whom survived to adulthood.
Jefferson served in the Continental Congress and in 1776 was chosen to draft the Declaration of Independence. Later that year, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. He served as Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781.
Jefferson’s federal service included the positions of trade commissioner and minister to France (1784–1789), first Secretary of State (1790–1793), and Vice President of the United States (1797–1801). In 1801, he defeated John Adams to be elected President. During his first term the Louisiana Territory was purchased and the Lewis and Clark expedition was launched.
After serving a second term as President, Jefferson retired to Monticello. He remodeled and added to the home, which he had started building at age 26. He donated 6,487 books to the Library of Congress, the foundation for a national library. Jefferson founded the University of Virginia, for which he designed the buildings, and served as its first rector. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826.
The Statue
Thomas Jefferson is depicted in his best-known role as author of the Declaration of Independence. He stands in a dynamic contrapposto pose with his right hand holding a quill pen. The pen’s tip points to Jefferson’s left hand, which holds the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s famous words, which are readable, were created by pressing type into the statue’s clay model. Two bound books—perhaps representing the collection that he donated to the Library of Congress—and a wreath, a symbol of victory, lie at his feet. The statue’s pedestal is composed of marble and granite, in contrasting colors. The front inscription reads “JEFFERSON.”
The statue of Thomas Jefferson was privately commissioned by Uriah Phillips Levy as a gift to the American people. A lieutenant in the Navy, Levy admired Jefferson’s politics, social philosophies and views on religious freedom; he held Jefferson in such esteem that in 1836 he purchased Monticello, which had been neglected, and restored it.
The statue was sculpted in France by Pierre-Jean David d’Angers and cast by Honoré Gonon and Sons using the lost-wax technique. On March 21, 1834, the statue was placed in the center of the Capitol Rotunda. Members of the House of Representatives expressed concern regarding the acceptance of the statue as a gift, its placement and the use of bronze rather than the more traditional marble.
Over the next decade, the statue was variously displayed in the Capitol Rotunda and other areas of the building, while never being formally accepted by the Congress. Beginning in the mid to late 1840s, it was displayed on the grounds of the White House. Years later, its neglected condition attracted attention and led to renewed interest in its history. In 1874, the Congress passed a resolution to accept the statue and appropriated funds for its repair. After restoration, the statue was placed in National Statuary Hall and, in 1900, it was moved back to the Rotunda, where it has remained.
The Sculptor
Pierre-Jean David, usually called David d’Angers, was on born March 12, 1788, in Angers, France. As a young man, he worked in the Paris studio of sculptor Philippe-Laurent Roland. In 1811, he won the Prix de Rome, which funded study in Rome. While in Italy he studied the antiquities and met sculptor Andrea Canova. Both Canova and Roland worked in the neoclassical style, but d’Angers was innovative in his naturalism and romanticism. In 1826, d’Angers was appointed professor of the French art academy, the École des Beaux-Arts. He was a prolific artist, creating numerous monuments, portrait busts and profile medallions.
His other works in the Capitol include busts of President George Washington and General Lafayette. d’Angers’ republican beliefs resulted in his exile after Napolean III’s coup d’état in 1851, but he returned to France in 1853 and died there in 1856.