United States Capitol Dome
by Suzanne Stout
Title
United States Capitol Dome
Artist
Suzanne Stout
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photography
Description
The United States Capitol dome is the dome situated above the United States Capitol which reaches upwards to 288 feet (88 m) in height and 96 feet (29 m) in diameter.The dome was designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, and constructed between 1855 and 1866 at a cost of $1,047,291 (equivalent to $13.9 million in 2016).
The dome is not stone, but cast iron carefully painted to appear to be made of the same stone as the main capitol building. It is actually two domes, one inside the other, and the total weight is 14.1 million pounds (6,400 t). The iron for the dome was cast by the foundry of Janes, Fowler, Kirtland & Company, owned by Adrian Janes in the Bronx, New York.
The current cast iron dome of the United States Capitol is the second dome to sit above the building. Plans began in May 1854 to build a new cast-iron dome for the United States Capitol, sold on the aesthetics of a new dome, as well as the utility of a fire-proof one. Influenced by the great domes of Europe, Walter paid particular attention to the Pantheon of Paris, St Paul's Cathedral in London and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. William Allen, Historian of the Capitol, described Walter's first design as, "...a tall, ellipsodial dome standing on a two-story drum with a ring of forty columns forming a peristyle surrounding the lower half of the drum. The upper part of the drum was enriched with decorated pilasters upholding a bracketed attic. Crowning the composition was a statue standing on a slender, columned tholus..."
Visitation of the dome is highly restricted, usually offered only to members of Congress and their select guests. When looking up from the rotunda floor, the railing some 180 feet (55 m) above is barely visible. Visitors ascend a series of metal stairs between the inner and outer domes. They eventually wind their way to a balcony just underneath the Apotheosis of Washington. From this view, the painting is curved and distorted. From the balcony, metal stairs take visitors over the painting and up to the outside balcony under the tholos directly beneath the Statue of Freedom. Additional stairs lead up into the statue for maintenance.
Uploaded
January 21st, 2018
Statistics
Viewed 385 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/22/2024 at 6:23 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet