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Visitors take advantage of warm weather to enjoy the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington DC. In the background is the base of the Washington Monument, with the dome of the US Capitol Building in the distance.
Part I of Capitol Hill Design Insights are now available, exclusively on Patreon! 🇺🇲
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Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey has been nominated to become the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Located in the heart of the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound region, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) is the Defense Department's premiere military installation on the West Coast.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) provides world-class installation support to the joint base warfighters, Family members and the surrounding community.
For more information about Joint Base Lewis-McChord, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JBLMGarrison or read the article at www.nwguardian.com.
The Apotheosis of Democracy, also known as The People of the United States, was commissioned in 1910 and carved in 1914-1916 by sculptor Paul wayland Bartlett for the pediment of the House of Representatives of the United Stats Capitol. In the center of the pediment is the allegorical figure of Peace dressed in armor protecting the winged figure of Genius who rests against her proper right leg. Genius carries the torch of immortality in his proper right hand. Behind Peace is an olive tree. Flanking Peace are figure groups representing Agriculture and Industry. Agriculture on her proper left is a reaper and his assistant; a farmer with his bull; a putti carrying grapes; a mother; and a child playing with a ram. Industry on her proper right is a printer; an ironworker; a founder; a factory girl; and fisherman. In the corners are waves representing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
us capitol building with tulips
featured on ConsumerReports.org "FTC goes after recession scammers with Operation Short Change" 7.16.09
Three Capitol Police in riot gear guard the US Capitol building during the September 15, 2007, march on Washington, DC, to end the Iraq war.
Federal Vases
This pair of bronze vases, which artist Horatio Stone entitled “Ecce Homo” and “Freedom,” have been variously referred to as “Philosophy” and “Invention,” or more simply as the Federal Vases. They are part of a group of three; the third, larger vase, entitled “Republic,” is located at the Pomona College Montgomery Art Gallery in Claremont, California. Collectively, they suggest that American democracy draws its strength from a moral foundation coupled with native ingenuity.
•Artist: Horatio Stone
•Date: 1871
•Material: Bronze
•Dimensions: 34½" tall, 15" diameter
•Location: East Front Vestibule, U.S. Capitol Rotunda
Stone apparently conceived this unusual sculptural ensemble around 1868, specifically for display at the U.S. Capitol to reinforce the concept of American stability and unity in the wake of the Civil War. These vases, each 34½ inches tall and 15 inches in diameter, convey their message through a procession of low-relief figures, inscriptions and recognizable details, such as the telegraph machine and views of the Capitol dome, before and after the Capitol extension.
The vase referred to as Philosophy depicts the evolution of ethical thought and celebrates Greek philosophers as well as the artistic contributions of poets, musicians and sculptors to cultural development. The figures are identified in the inscription: “I. PROMETEUS/II. ORPHEUS/II. HOMER/IV. ARISTIDES/V. ANAXAGORAS/VI. PHIDIAS/VII. SOCRATES/VII. ECCE HOMO.” The frieze begins with the mythological figure of Prometheus and the vulture, signifying remorse for stealing the celestial fire; Orpheus with his lyre; and the epic poet Homer. Athenian statesman Aristedes, known as “the Just,” is followed by Anaxagoras, who brought philosophy to Athens, and the great Athenian sculptor Phidias, who adorned the Parthenon. Socrates, who embodies Truth, and an ecce homo depiction of Jesus complete the progression.
In the Invention vase, Freedom is personified by a male figure wearing a liberty cap, a motif that is repeated throughout the relief. The narrative begins as he receives the lamp full of the sacred oil of knowledge from Minerva, the goddess of Wisdom. Freedom then embarks on his metaphorical journey, in which he receives symbolic gifts from three leading American inventors: Benjamin Franklin, who presents him with a key, referencing the discovery of electricity; Robert Fulton, who offers his design for the steamboat; and Samuel F. B. Morse, who demonstrates the electric telegraph. The inscription on the vase reads “I. A SCIENCE/II. FREEDOM/III. FREEDOM/IV. FRANKLIN/V. FREEDOM/VI. FULTON/VII. FREEDOM/VIII. MORSE.”
The third, larger and more elaborate vase, Republic, depicts George Washington along with President Abraham Lincoln, Civil War Admiral David G. Farragut, Chief Justice John Marshall and newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant, surrounded by allegorical figures symbolizing Peace, Prosperity and Progress.
History
Apparently, as revealed in a letter that Horatio Stone wrote to his friend and legal counsel, Robert J. Stevens, the artist first developed these figural processions to adorn the walls of the east and west Capitol porticoes. Because the completed Capitol extension did not provide the proper architectural opportunity, Stone transferred his concept to free-standing vases, recasting the traditional bacchanal imagery found on Etruscan and Greek vases into a commemorative historical narrative. The amount of $10,000 was included for the vases in the 1870 congressional appropriation bill, but Stone did not sign a contract for the work. He completed the sculptures and had them cast in bronze by the Robert Wood Foundry in Philadelphia in 1871; however, by that time the money had reverted to the treasury. Confronted with a lien on the vases, Stone sought the help of his patron, the engineer John Chipman Hoadley, who covered his foundry debt and brought the vases to Washington, D.C., where they were placed on temporary public view. According to the National Republican of December 16, 1871, Ecce Homo and Freedom were displayed “in the east corner of the new hall of the House of Representatives.” After Stone’s sudden death in 1875, ownership of the vases reverted to Hoadley. Hoadley himself died in 1886, and in 1887 a public subscription raised funds to present all three vases to the Boston Art Club, which sold them in 1939 to a California collector.
In 2015 the vases were offered for exhibit in the U.S. Capitol by their owners, Daniel and Mathew Wolf, in honor of their sister, the Honorable Diane R. Wolf. With the approval of the Joint Committee on the Library, the vases were accepted and placed on display atop specially designed sandstone pedestals in the east front vestibule of the Rotunda.
The Sculptor
Horatio Stone was born in Jackson, New York, in 1808. Stone’s attempts at woodcarving as a young boy showed his early interest in sculpture, but he left home as young man to study medicine. In the mid- to late 1840s, he closed his practice and moved to Washington, D.C., to focus on sculpture. He became interested in the decoration of the Capitol as a founder and president of the Washington Art Association, which evolved into the National Art Association. In 1858, the Association petitioned Congress for the formation of an art commission to oversee the acquisition of art for the Capitol; the commission existed for only one year. Stone maintained studios in Washington, including, for a time, a room in the Capitol, and worked on his sculpture in Italy. He sculpted three statues for the Capitol: John Hancock (1861), Alexander Hamilton (1868) and Edward Dickinson Baker (1876). He died in Carrara, Italy, in 1875.
A transcription of the plaque on the base, edited and formatted for clarity:
The Federal Vases
Philosophy, 1871, by Horatio Stone
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:
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins
Susan speaks to the news organizations while Tim spends time with the families.
www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/washington/28protest.html?_r=1...
Part I of Capitol Hill Design Insights are now available, exclusively on Patreon! 🇺🇲
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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:
Former President G.W. Bush, President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and presidential press secretary Jen Psaki are "mainstream propagandists" according to this woman at the "Justice for J6" rally in Washington, DC (9/18/21)
Part III of Capitol Hill Design Insights are now available, exclusively on Patreon!
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Traveled to Washington D.C. from Ohio over spring break to hear my daughter's high school band play a short concert at the WWII memorial. Got the chance to see iconic landmarks-it has been a long time since I have been in Washington.
Father Damien
This statue of Father Damien was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Hawaii in 1969. He devoted his life to ministry for people with leprosy.
•Artist: Marisol Escobar
•Material: Bronze
•State: Given by Hawaii in 1969
•Location: Hall of Columns, U.S. Capitol
Father Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840. The son of well-to-do parents, he entered the Sacred Hearts Congregation at Louvain in January 1859 and five years later was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.
While in Kohala, Father Damien wrote to the Father General that many of his parishioners had been shipped to a leper colony on Molokai and that he had “an undeniable feeling that soon I shall join them.” On May 10, 1873, Father Damien traveled with Bishop Maigret and a shipload of lepers to Molokai. After two days Damien was willing to devote the rest of his life to the leper settlement. The bishop replied that he could stay as long as his devotion dictated. Father Damien accomplished amazing feats while residing on Molokai. Six chapels were built by 1875. He constructed a home for boys and later a home for girls. He bandaged wounds, made coffins, dug graves, heard confessions, and said Mass every morning. In December 1884, Father Damien noticed severe blisters on his feet without the presence of pain. As he suspected, the disease was leprosy.
Father Damien died peacefully on April 15, 1889, on Molokai after 16 years of undaunted dedication.
On October 11, 2009, Father Damien was canonized (i.e., elevated to sainthood) by Pope Benedict XVI in a ceremony at the Vatican, thus becoming Saint Damien.
The Statue
The bronze statue is based on photographs taken of Father Damien near the end of his life, with the scars of his disease visible on his face and his right arm in a sling beneath his cloak. His broad-brimmed hat was traditionally worn by missionaries. His right hand holds a cane.
Hawaii’s Statuary Hall Commission received offers from 66 artists to create the statue of Father Damien for the Capitol and selected seven to submit models. New York sculptor Marisol Escobar’s contemporary design was chosen over more classically styled representations. Aware of Damien’s fondness for carpentry as a recreation, she first created a full-size model in wood, her preferred medium. The plaster model that she then created for casting was broken on its voyage to the foundry in Viareggio, Italy; a second plaster model reached Italy but was then lost. Finally, a wax impression of the statue reached the foundry. The bronze statue was shipped to New York, where it lingered because of a longshoremen’s strike, so a second statue was sent directly to Washington, D.C.
This statue and that of King Kamehameha I, Hawaii’s other gift to the National Statuary Hall Collection, were unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda on April 15, 1969, 80 years after Father Damien’s death.
The statue’s design is typical of the sculptor’s work; Marisol Escobar is known for her portraits with faces, hands and feet attached to large blocks of wood. In this case in particular, it reflects her decision “to undertake the work directly and simply in much the same way Father Damien did his work.”
Of course when I was in Washington in April 1978 I had to create an image of the steps of the U.S. Capitol. For a young photographer it was a rite of passage. (Scanned from a Kodachrome slide)
The US Marine Corps War Memorial with Washington landmarks in the background during morning twilight in Arlington, Virginia.
Image © 2017 Clarence Holmes / Clarence Holmes Photography, All Rights Reserved. The image is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws, and is not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without written permission.
If you would like to use this image for any purpose, please see the available licensing and/or print options for this image on my website or contact me with any questions that you may have.
Father Damien
This statue of Father Damien was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Hawaii in 1969. He devoted his life to ministry for people with leprosy.
•Artist: Marisol Escobar
•Material: Bronze
•State: Given by Hawaii in 1969
•Location: Hall of Columns, U.S. Capitol
Father Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840. The son of well-to-do parents, he entered the Sacred Hearts Congregation at Louvain in January 1859 and five years later was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.
While in Kohala, Father Damien wrote to the Father General that many of his parishioners had been shipped to a leper colony on Molokai and that he had “an undeniable feeling that soon I shall join them.” On May 10, 1873, Father Damien traveled with Bishop Maigret and a shipload of lepers to Molokai. After two days Damien was willing to devote the rest of his life to the leper settlement. The bishop replied that he could stay as long as his devotion dictated. Father Damien accomplished amazing feats while residing on Molokai. Six chapels were built by 1875. He constructed a home for boys and later a home for girls. He bandaged wounds, made coffins, dug graves, heard confessions, and said Mass every morning. In December 1884, Father Damien noticed severe blisters on his feet without the presence of pain. As he suspected, the disease was leprosy.
Father Damien died peacefully on April 15, 1889, on Molokai after 16 years of undaunted dedication.
On October 11, 2009, Father Damien was canonized (i.e., elevated to sainthood) by Pope Benedict XVI in a ceremony at the Vatican, thus becoming Saint Damien.
The Statue
The bronze statue is based on photographs taken of Father Damien near the end of his life, with the scars of his disease visible on his face and his right arm in a sling beneath his cloak. His broad-brimmed hat was traditionally worn by missionaries. His right hand holds a cane.
Hawaii’s Statuary Hall Commission received offers from 66 artists to create the statue of Father Damien for the Capitol and selected seven to submit models. New York sculptor Marisol Escobar’s contemporary design was chosen over more classically styled representations. Aware of Damien’s fondness for carpentry as a recreation, she first created a full-size model in wood, her preferred medium. The plaster model that she then created for casting was broken on its voyage to the foundry in Viareggio, Italy; a second plaster model reached Italy but was then lost. Finally, a wax impression of the statue reached the foundry. The bronze statue was shipped to New York, where it lingered because of a longshoremen’s strike, so a second statue was sent directly to Washington, D.C.
This statue and that of King Kamehameha I, Hawaii’s other gift to the National Statuary Hall Collection, were unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda on April 15, 1969, 80 years after Father Damien’s death.
The statue’s design is typical of the sculptor’s work; Marisol Escobar is known for her portraits with faces, hands and feet attached to large blocks of wood. In this case in particular, it reflects her decision “to undertake the work directly and simply in much the same way Father Damien did his work.”
The story reads “I don't remember the details of what happened. I pick up clues from the seemingly random things in sex
that paralyze me with fear.”
View of US Capitol Building from North Capitol Street at Louisiana Avenue, NW, Washington DC on Monday afternoon, 18 January 2021 by Elvert Barnes Photography
NATIONAL GUARD
Elvert Barnes COVID 19 Pandemic Part 5 New Year 2021 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/CV19NewYear2021
Elvert Barnes Monday afternoon, 18 January 2021 In Preparation of 59th Presidential Inauguration US Capitol Complex docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/18January2021
Father Damien
This statue of Father Damien was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Hawaii in 1969. He devoted his life to ministry for people with leprosy.
•Artist: Marisol Escobar
•Material: Bronze
•State: Given by Hawaii in 1969
•Location: Hall of Columns, U.S. Capitol
Father Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3, 1840. The son of well-to-do parents, he entered the Sacred Hearts Congregation at Louvain in January 1859 and five years later was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.
While in Kohala, Father Damien wrote to the Father General that many of his parishioners had been shipped to a leper colony on Molokai and that he had “an undeniable feeling that soon I shall join them.” On May 10, 1873, Father Damien traveled with Bishop Maigret and a shipload of lepers to Molokai. After two days Damien was willing to devote the rest of his life to the leper settlement. The bishop replied that he could stay as long as his devotion dictated. Father Damien accomplished amazing feats while residing on Molokai. Six chapels were built by 1875. He constructed a home for boys and later a home for girls. He bandaged wounds, made coffins, dug graves, heard confessions, and said Mass every morning. In December 1884, Father Damien noticed severe blisters on his feet without the presence of pain. As he suspected, the disease was leprosy.
Father Damien died peacefully on April 15, 1889, on Molokai after 16 years of undaunted dedication.
On October 11, 2009, Father Damien was canonized (i.e., elevated to sainthood) by Pope Benedict XVI in a ceremony at the Vatican, thus becoming Saint Damien.
The Statue
The bronze statue is based on photographs taken of Father Damien near the end of his life, with the scars of his disease visible on his face and his right arm in a sling beneath his cloak. His broad-brimmed hat was traditionally worn by missionaries. His right hand holds a cane.
Hawaii’s Statuary Hall Commission received offers from 66 artists to create the statue of Father Damien for the Capitol and selected seven to submit models. New York sculptor Marisol Escobar’s contemporary design was chosen over more classically styled representations. Aware of Damien’s fondness for carpentry as a recreation, she first created a full-size model in wood, her preferred medium. The plaster model that she then created for casting was broken on its voyage to the foundry in Viareggio, Italy; a second plaster model reached Italy but was then lost. Finally, a wax impression of the statue reached the foundry. The bronze statue was shipped to New York, where it lingered because of a longshoremen’s strike, so a second statue was sent directly to Washington, D.C.
This statue and that of King Kamehameha I, Hawaii’s other gift to the National Statuary Hall Collection, were unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda on April 15, 1969, 80 years after Father Damien’s death.
The statue’s design is typical of the sculptor’s work; Marisol Escobar is known for her portraits with faces, hands and feet attached to large blocks of wood. In this case in particular, it reflects her decision “to undertake the work directly and simply in much the same way Father Damien did his work.”
The U.S. Capitol Building, the meeting chambers for the Senate and the House of Representatives, is one of the most recognizable historic buildings in Washington, DC.
The US Capitol Building from a trip Casey and I took back in the late winter of 2004. Man, we had the best times of our lives on that trip and saw things we never thought we would get to see. Note the protesters out on the front lawn. I remember this being so cold that day and the rain......oh the little sprinkles and mist of rain felt like tiny bullets against your skin.
Picture was taken with my very old Sony point and shoot camera.
Abraham Lincoln Bust
Abraham Lincoln’s bust was carved directly from the block of marble rather than creating a copy of a plaster cast made from a clay model. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, best known for his sculptures at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.
•Artist: Gutzon Borglum
•Material: Marble
•Date: 1908
•Location: Crypt, U.S. Capitol
The Bust
In this bust by Gutzon Borglum, Abraham Lincoln’s head seems to emerge from the rough-cut marble, an effect that can also be seen in the marble sculpture of Michelangelo and Borglum’s friend Auguste Rodin. Borglum captured the distinctive features of Lincoln’s face, including his deep-set eyes, his prominent lower lip, and even his wart. The proper left side of the head is almost impressionistically carved, with the ear barely defined. This difference between the two sides of Lincoln’s face in the sculpture is an important part of the creative expression and personal style of the artist.
Borglum carved the bust directly from the block of marble rather than creating a copy of a plaster cast made from a clay model. The sculptor wrote in 1908: “It was cut directly into the marble by myself therefore there is no cast…” He was interested in the free expression that came from the direct carving, and his goal was to convey a sense of Lincoln’s character and personality rather than to create a realistic portrait. Borglum wrote: “Lincoln’s face was so much more developed on the right side that I have carved this head in the same way—that is developing that side...” An April 1908 article in The Craftsman elaborated on the distinction:
Mr. Borglum thinks that the right side of Lincoln’s countenance was that in which the forcefulness of his character, his common sense, his executive capacity, his reasonableness, that is, his intellectual qualities, found chiefly their expression. But his gentleness, his tenderness, his bigness and warmth of heart, in short, his spiritual side, the artist thinks left is marks more upon the left half of his countenance...and the artist has given, from that point of view, an almost poignant impression of the tensity and weight of the man’s inner life.
Robert T. Lincoln, the president’s son, praised the bust in a letter to the artist on February 6, 1908: “I think it is the most extraordinarily good portrait of my father I have ever seen, and it impressed me deeply as a work of art which speaks for itself in the most wonderful manner.”
Borglum carved the monumental bust in 1908, and it was donated to the Congress by Eugene Meyer, Jr., and accepted by the Joint Committee on the Library in the same year. The pedestal was specially designed by the sculptor and installed in 1911. The bust and pedestal were on display in the Rotunda for many years. In 1979, after a rearrangement of all sculpture in the Rotunda, they were placed on the floor below, in the Crypt at the center of the Capitol.
The sculpture is 40 inches high and weighs about 375 pounds. It is inscribed on the left side “Gutzon Borglum/1908.” The pedestal is inscribed “Presented to Congress by Eugene Meyer, Jr. Of New York City.”
Curator Charles Fairman wrote in 1927, “While the head of Lincoln is not completely separated from the mass of rock, enough has been done to create an art object which has met with the approval of thousands of visitors who have passed before this unique specimen of the art of Mr. Borglum.”
Although the sculptor stated in 1908 that he wished the bust to be unique, a mold was later made and bronze casts of the bust are in the collections of the White House, the Chicago Historical Society, the College of the City of New York, the Tomb of Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Sculptor
Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) is best known for his colossal sculptures of the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Born near Bear Lake in the Idaho Territory, he left home for San Francisco at the age of 12 and was apprenticed to a lithographer and then a fresco painter. He lived next in New York and subsequently in Paris, where he became a close friend of the sculptor Auguste Rodin; Spain; San Francisco; and London. He settled in New York City in 1901. Many of Borglum’s works are large-scale public monuments. His first colossal-scale work, a memorial to the Confederate Army at Stone Mountain, Georgia, was halted by controversy. He began work at Mount Rushmore in 1927; the sculpture there was completed after his death by his son, Lincoln.
Borglum’s works in the Capitol are the bust of Lincoln and three statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection: John Campbell Greenway (Arizona), Alexander Hamilton Stephens (Georgia), and Zebulon Baird Vance (North Carolina).
(Note: An inexpensive viewer can turn the side-by-side images on the computer screen into a 3-D image. The viewer is available from the following source:
Washington D.C.
Mid to late 1960's I'm guessing by the looks of the cars in the parking lot.
My brother came across some old photos in my Dad's house awhile back. He scanned them and I cleaned them up a bit in Lightroom. Most them had a lot of mold and other blemishes on them.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left standing, speaks to members of the Congressional Black Caucus during their weekly meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)
• 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.
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Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks’ statue was unveiled in National Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol, approximately 100 years after her birth on February 4, 1913. This statue depicts Parks seated on a rock-like formation of which she seems almost a part, symbolizing her famous refusal to give up her bus seat in 1955.
•Artist: Daub and Firmin Studios, LLC
oSculptor: Eugene Daub
oCo-Designer: Dr. Rob Firmin
•Material: Bronze
•Year: 2013
•Location: National Statuary Hall, U.S. Capitol
Rosa Louise McCauley was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, on February 4, 1913. She was raised on a farm, attended rural schools, then took some vocational and academic courses at the Industrial School for Girls in Montgomery before leaving to care for her grandmother and mother during their illnesses. In 1932, she married barber Raymond Parks, who was working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1933, she completed her high school studies. Ten years later, she joined the NAACP and was elected secretary. Her involvement with the organization heightened her awareness of the injustices imposed by Jim Crow laws in the former Confederate states, which mandated racial segregation in public facilities and retail establishments.
On December 1, 1955, while riding a bus home from her job as a department-store seamstress, she refused to obey the driver’s direction to move from her seat to make room for a newly boarded white passenger. She was arrested. On December 5, at her trial, she was found guilty of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. That day was also the start of a bus boycott that would last more than a year and increase the prominence of many figures in the civil rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The boycott ended only after a separate Supreme Court decision held that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
After her conviction, Parks was fired from her job and she and her husband sought work, first in Virginia and then in Michigan. She worked as a seamstress until 1965, then served as secretary and receptionist to U.S. Representative John Conyers until her retirement in 1988. She co-founded the Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation in 1980 and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development in 1987. She published her autobiography in 1992 and her memoirs in 1995.
Rosa Parks remained an icon of the civil rights movement to the end of her life. In 1999, the United States Congress honored her with a Congressional Gold Medal. Following her death on October 24, 2005, she was accorded the rare tribute of having her remains lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in recognition of her contribution to advancing civil and human rights.
Statue
The statue of Rosa Parks authorized by the Congress in 2005 is historically significant as being the first full-length statue of an African American person in the U.S. Capitol. It is also the first statue commissioned by the Congress since 1873. It follows the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., also commissioned by the Congress, that was unveiled in 1986 and the bust of Sojourner Truth placed in 2009.
The statue depicts Rosa Parks wearing the same clothes she wore on the day she was arrested. Based on photographic research into what she was wearing the day on the bus, she is shown wearing a round brimless hat, glasses, a cloth coat over her dress, laced shoes and she holds the handle of her purse. She is seated on a rock-like formation of which she seems almost a part, symbolizing her famous refusal to give up her bus seat. Her upper body is slightly turned to the right. Her head is erect, her back is straight and both her hands and her ankles are crossed; this posture, along with the expression on her face, suggests inner strength, dignity, resolve and determination, all characteristic of her long-time commitment to working for civil rights.
The statue is close to nine feet tall including its pedestal. The bronze statue weighs 600 pounds and the granite pedestal, partially hollowed out inside, weighs 2,100 pounds. The pedestal is made of Raven Black granite and inscribed simply with her name and life dates, “Rosa Parks/1913-2005.”
The Sculptor
A national competition was managed by the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Architect of the Capitol to select the statue’s design. Artists’ proposals were reviewed by a panel of experts and judged on artistic excellence and artistic merit. Ten semifinalists were selected by the panel to produce a maquette, or small-scale model, of the proposed sculpture. Several entries were then selected by the panel for the review and final selection by the Joint Committee on the Library.
The commission was awarded in November 2009, to Daub and Firmin Studios, LLC, which is based in Kensington, and San Pedro, California.
Eugene E. Daub, a sculptor with more than 30 years of experience, was the master artist and sculptor. He studied at the University of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, and Alfred University in New York. He is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society. Dr. Rob Firmin, partner at Daub and Firmin Studios, provided research for this project and worked with Daub on the concept and design of the statue. Dr. Firmin, earned degrees in history and art history, an MBA from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Partnering with Eugene Daub since 2005, he has contributed to 40 public art sculptures in addition to his own work. Together they created a unique design for the statue of Rosa Parks that captures her dignity, determination and resolve.
Abraham Lincoln Bust
Abraham Lincoln’s bust was carved directly from the block of marble rather than creating a copy of a plaster cast made from a clay model. Sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, best known for his sculptures at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota.
•Artist: Gutzon Borglum
•Material: Marble
•Date: 1908
•Location: Crypt, U.S. Capitol
The Bust
In this bust by Gutzon Borglum, Abraham Lincoln’s head seems to emerge from the rough-cut marble, an effect that can also be seen in the marble sculpture of Michelangelo and Borglum’s friend Auguste Rodin. Borglum captured the distinctive features of Lincoln’s face, including his deep-set eyes, his prominent lower lip, and even his wart. The proper left side of the head is almost impressionistically carved, with the ear barely defined. This difference between the two sides of Lincoln’s face in the sculpture is an important part of the creative expression and personal style of the artist.
Borglum carved the bust directly from the block of marble rather than creating a copy of a plaster cast made from a clay model. The sculptor wrote in 1908: “It was cut directly into the marble by myself therefore there is no cast…” He was interested in the free expression that came from the direct carving, and his goal was to convey a sense of Lincoln’s character and personality rather than to create a realistic portrait. Borglum wrote: “Lincoln’s face was so much more developed on the right side that I have carved this head in the same way—that is developing that side...” An April 1908 article in The Craftsman elaborated on the distinction:
Mr. Borglum thinks that the right side of Lincoln’s countenance was that in which the forcefulness of his character, his common sense, his executive capacity, his reasonableness, that is, his intellectual qualities, found chiefly their expression. But his gentleness, his tenderness, his bigness and warmth of heart, in short, his spiritual side, the artist thinks left is marks more upon the left half of his countenance...and the artist has given, from that point of view, an almost poignant impression of the tensity and weight of the man’s inner life.
Robert T. Lincoln, the president’s son, praised the bust in a letter to the artist on February 6, 1908: “I think it is the most extraordinarily good portrait of my father I have ever seen, and it impressed me deeply as a work of art which speaks for itself in the most wonderful manner.”
Borglum carved the monumental bust in 1908, and it was donated to the Congress by Eugene Meyer, Jr., and accepted by the Joint Committee on the Library in the same year. The pedestal was specially designed by the sculptor and installed in 1911. The bust and pedestal were on display in the Rotunda for many years. In 1979, after a rearrangement of all sculpture in the Rotunda, they were placed on the floor below, in the Crypt at the center of the Capitol.
The sculpture is 40 inches high and weighs about 375 pounds. It is inscribed on the left side “Gutzon Borglum/1908.” The pedestal is inscribed “Presented to Congress by Eugene Meyer, Jr. Of New York City.”
Curator Charles Fairman wrote in 1927, “While the head of Lincoln is not completely separated from the mass of rock, enough has been done to create an art object which has met with the approval of thousands of visitors who have passed before this unique specimen of the art of Mr. Borglum.”
Although the sculptor stated in 1908 that he wished the bust to be unique, a mold was later made and bronze casts of the bust are in the collections of the White House, the Chicago Historical Society, the College of the City of New York, the Tomb of Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Sculptor
Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) is best known for his colossal sculptures of the heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Born near Bear Lake in the Idaho Territory, he left home for San Francisco at the age of 12 and was apprenticed to a lithographer and then a fresco painter. He lived next in New York and subsequently in Paris, where he became a close friend of the sculptor Auguste Rodin; Spain; San Francisco; and London. He settled in New York City in 1901. Many of Borglum’s works are large-scale public monuments. His first colossal-scale work, a memorial to the Confederate Army at Stone Mountain, Georgia, was halted by controversy. He began work at Mount Rushmore in 1927; the sculpture there was completed after his death by his son, Lincoln.
Borglum’s works in the Capitol are the bust of Lincoln and three statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection: John Campbell Greenway (Arizona), Alexander Hamilton Stephens (Georgia), and Zebulon Baird Vance (North Carolina).
Frieze of American History
The Frieze of American History in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol contains a painted panorama depicting significant events in American history. The frieze’s nineteen scenes are the work of three artists: Constantino Brumidi, Filippo Costaggini and Allyn Cox. The frieze is painted in grisaille, a monochrome of whites and browns that resembles sculpture. It measures eight feet and four inches in height and approximately three hundred feet in circumference. It starts fifty-eight feet above the floor.
•Artist: Constantino Brumidi, Filippo Costaggini and Allyn Cox
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
Thomas U. Walter’s 1859 cross-section drawing of the new Dome (constructed 1855-1863) shows a recessed belt atop the Rotunda walls with relief sculpture. Eventually it was painted in true fresco, a difficult and exacting technique in which the pigments are applied directly onto wet plaster. As the plaster cures the colors become part of the wall. Consequently, each section of plaster must be painted the day it is laid.
In 1877 the Architect of the Capitol reported, “The belt of the Rotunda intended to be enriched with basso relievos [low relief] is being embellished in real fresco representing in light and shadow events in our history arranged in chronological order, beginning with the Landing of Columbus…”
The frieze is the work of three artists. It was designed by Constantino Brumidi, an Italian artist who studied in Rome before emigrating to America. He worked at the Capitol over a period of twenty-five years, decorating numerous committee rooms and the areas known as the Brumidi Corridors; he also painted the Rotunda canopy fresco, The Apotheosis of Washington. Brumidi created a sketch for the Rotunda frieze in 1859 but was not authorized to begin work until 1877. After enlarging the sketches for the first scenes, Brumidi began painting the frieze in 1878, at the age of seventy-three. His design traces America’s history from the landing of Columbus to the discovery of gold in California. As was common in the history books of the day, the Spanish explorers and the Revolutionary War are emphasized. While working on the figure of William Penn in the scene “William Penn and the Indians,” Brumidi’s chair slipped on the scaffold platform. He saved himself from falling only by clinging to the rung of a ladder for fifteen minutes until he was rescued. He returned to the scaffold once more but then worked on enlarging his remaining sketches until his death a few months later in February 1880.
Filippo Costaggini, who had also been trained in Rome, was selected to complete the remaining eight scenes using Brumidi’s sketches. When he finished in 1889 there was a gap of over thirty-one feet because of early miscalculations about the height of the frieze. Costaggini hoped to fill it with three of his own scenes, but Congress failed to approve his designs before his death in 1904. In 1918 Charles Ayer Whipple painted a trial scene in the blank section; it was later removed.
In 1951 Allyn Cox was commissioned to paint the last three panels tracing the growth of the nation from the Civil War through the birth of aviation. Cox also cleaned and retouched the frieze. The frieze was completed in 1953 and dedicated the next year. In 1986 Congress appropriated funds for a careful cleaning and restoration of the frieze to remove accumulated grime, overpaint, and streaks caused by leaking water. The conservation treatment, completed early in 1987, restored the original details and vividly brought out the illusion of relief sculpture. Minor repairs were made in 1994.
The sequence of nineteen scenes begins over the west door and moves clockwise around the Rotunda.
1.“America and History”
2.“Landing of Columbus” (1492)
3.“Cortez and Montezuma at Mexican Temple” (1520)
4.“Pizarro Going to Peru” (1533)
5.“Burial of DeSoto” (1542)
6.“Captain Smith and Pocahontas” (1607)
7.“Landing of the Pilgrims” (1620)
8.“William Penn and the Indians” (1682)
9.“Colonization of New England”
10.“Oglethorpe and the Indians” (1732)
11.“Battle of Lexington” (1775)
12.“Declaration of Independence” (1776)
13.“Surrender of Cornwallis” (1781)
14.“Death of Tecumseh” (1813)
15.“American Army Entering the City of Mexico” (1847)
16.“Discovery of Gold in California” (1848)
17.“Peace at the End of the Civil War” (1865)
18.“Naval Gun Crew in the Spanish-American War” (1898)
19.“The Birth of Aviation” (1903)
Apotheosis of Washington
Painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi, the Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the U.S. Capitol Building’s Rotunda depicts George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame and surrounded by six groups of figures. The fresco is suspended one hundred and eighty feet above the Rotunda floor and covers an area of 4,664 square feet.
•Artist: Constantino Brumidi
•Technique: Fresco
•Area: 4,664 Square Feet
•Location: Rotunda, U.S. Capitol
The Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol was painted in the true fresco technique by Constantino Brumidi in 1865. Brumidi (1805-1880) was born and trained in Rome and had painted in the Vatican and Roman palaces before emigrating to the United States in 1852. A master of creating the illusion of three-dimensional forms and figures on flat walls, Brumidi painted frescoes and murals throughout the Capitol from 1855 until his death.
The Apotheosis of Washington, his most ambitious work at the Capitol Building, was painted in eleven months at the end of the Civil War, soon after the new dome was completed, for $40,000. The figures, up to fifteen feet tall, were painted to be intelligible from close up as well as from one hundred and eighty feet below. Some of the groups and figures were inspired by classical and Renaissance images, especially by those of the Italian master Raphael.
In the central group of the fresco, 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.)
Six groups of figures line the perimeter of the canopy; the following list begins below the central group and proceeds clockwise:
•War, with Armed Freedom and the eagle defeating Tyranny and Kingly Power
•Science, with Minerva teaching Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, and Samuel F.B. Morse
•Marine, with Neptune holding his trident and Venus holding the transatlantic cable, which was being laid at the time the fresco was painted
•Commerce, with Mercury handing a bag of money to Robert Morris, financier of the American Revolution
•Mechanics, with Vulcan at the anvil and forge, producing a cannon and a steam engine
•Agriculture, with Ceres seated on the McCormick Reaper, accompanied by America in a red liberty cap and Flora picking flowers.
The Capitol’s cast-iron dome was designed in 1854 by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, who had also designed the building’s north and south extensions. Work on the dome began in 1856; in 1859 Walter redesigned the structure to consist of an inner and outer dome. A canopy suspended between them would be visible through an oculus, or eye, at the top of the inner dome, and in 1862 Walter asked Brumidi to furnish a design for “a picture 65 feet in diameter, painted in fresco, on the concave canopy over the eye of the new dome of the U.S. Capitol.” It is possible that Brumidi added a watercolor image of his final canopy design over a tentative sketch on Walter’s 1859 drawing at this time.
The fresco underwent a thorough cleaning and restoration in 1987-1988. Although fresco is a very durable medium, grime had accumulated on the surface of Brumidi’s Apotheosis for over a century. In particular, the joints between the giornate, the sections of plaster, had darkened, creating disfiguring lines in the composition. Today, with the fresco completely cleaned and treated, the unified effect and soaring illusion of space intended by the artist can once again be seen.