The United States Capitol rotunda is the tall central rotunda of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

in Washington, D.C. It has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda is located below the

Capitol dome The United States Capitol features a dome situated above its rotunda. The dome is in height and in diameter. Designed by Thomas U. Walter, the fourth Architect of the Capitol, it was constructed between 1855 and 1866 at a cost of $1,047,291 ( ...

, which was built between 1857 and 1866. The rotunda is connected by corridors leading south to the House of Representatives and north to the Senate chambers. To the immediate south is the semi-circular

National Statuary Hall The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along th ...

, which was the House of Representatives chamber until 1857. To the northeast is the

Old Senate Chamber The Old Senate Chamber is a room in the United States Capitol that was the legislative chamber of the United States Senate from 1810 to 1859 and served as the Supreme Court chamber from 1860 until 1935. It was designed in Neoclassical style and is ...

, used by the Senate until 1859 and by the Supreme Court until 1935. The rotunda is in diameter, rises to the top of its original walls and to the canopy of the dome, and was visited daily by thousands of people before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The space is a national showcase of art, and includes numerous historical paintings and sculptures. It is also used for ceremonial events authorized by concurrent resolution, including the lying in state of honored dead.

Design and construction

The doctor and architect

William Thornton William Thornton (May 20, 1759 – March 28, 1828) was a British-American physician, inventor, painter and architect who designed the United States Capitol. He also served as the first Architect of the Capitol and first Superintendent of the Uni ...

was the winner of the contest to design the Capitol in 1793. Thornton had first conceived the idea of a central rotunda. However, due to lack of funds or resources, oft-interrupted construction, and the British attack on Washington during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, work on the rotunda did not begin until 1818. The rotunda was completed in 1824 under

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

Charles Bulfinch Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first American-born professional architect to practice.Baltzell, Edward Digby. ''Puritan Boston & Quaker Philadelphia''. Tra ...

, as part of a series of new buildings and projects in preparation for the final visit of

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revoluti ...

in 1824. The rotunda was designed in the

neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...

and was intended to evoke the design of the

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

. The

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

rotunda walls rise above the floor; everything above this—the Capitol dome–was designed in 1854 by

Thomas U. Walter Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect of German descent, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was ...

, the fourth Architect of the Capitol. Walter had also designed the Capitol's north and south extensions. Work on the dome began in 1856, and in 1859, Walter redesigned the rotunda to consist of an inner and outer dome, with a canopy suspended between them that would be visible through an

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

at the top of the inner dome. In 1862, Walter asked painter

Constantino Brumidi Constantino Brumidi (July 26, 1805 – February 19, 1880) was a Greek-Italian-American historical painter, best known and honored for his fresco work, Apotheosis of Washington, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Parentage and early life ...

to design "a picture in diameter, painted in fresco, on the concave canopy over the eye of the New Dome of the U.S. Capitol". At this time, Brumidi may have added a

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

canopy design over Walter's tentative 1859 sketch. The dome was being finished in the middle of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and was constructed from fireproof

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

. During the Civil War, the rotunda was used as a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

for

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

soldiers. The dome was finally completed in 1866.

The crypt

Originally the crypt had an open ceiling into the rotunda. Visitors can still see the holes in the stone circle that marked the rim of the open space in the rotunda floor. Underneath the floor of the crypt lies a tomb that was the intended burial place for George Washington but after a lengthy battle with his estate and the state of Virginia the plans for him to be buried in the crypt were abandoned.

Renovation

United States Capitol under construction May 2016

In January 2013, the Architect of the Capitol announced a four-year, $10 million project to repair and conserve the Capitol Dome's exterior and the Capitol rotunda. The proposal required the stripping of lead paint from the interior of the dome, repair to the ironwork, repainting of the interior of the dome, rehabilitation of the interstitial space between the dome and rotunda, and installation of new lighting in the interstitial space and the rotunda. The dome and rotunda, which were last conserved in 1960, were showing significant signs of rust and disrepair. There was a danger that decorative ironwork could have fallen from the rotunda to the space below, and that weather-related problems could damage the artwork in the rotunda. Without immediate repair, safety netting was installed, temporarily blocking the rotunda's artwork from view.

Historical paintings

Eight niches in the rotunda hold large, framed

historical painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...

s. All are

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

and measure . Four of these are scenes from the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, painted by

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756November 10, 1843) was an American artist of the early independence period, notable for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Rev ...

, who was commissioned by Congress to do the work in 1817. These are ''

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

'', ''

Surrender of General Burgoyne The ''Surrender of General Burgoyne'' is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1821 and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant General Jo ...

'', ''

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis The ''Surrender of Lord Cornwallis'' is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1820, and hangs in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts the surrender of British Lieutenant Ge ...

'', and ''

General George Washington Resigning His Commission ''General George Washington Resigning His Commission'' is a large-scale oil painting by American artist John Trumbull of General George Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783 to th ...

''. These were placed between 1819 and 1824. Between 1840 and 1855, four more paintings were added. These depicted the exploration and colonization of America and were all done by different artists. These paintings are ''Landing of Columbus'' by

John Vanderlyn John Vanderlyn (October 18, 1775September 23, 1852) was an American neoclassicist painter. Biography Vanderlyn was born at Kingston, New York, and was the grandson of colonial portrait painter Pieter Vanderlyn. He was employed by a print-sell ...

, ''Discovery of the Mississippi'' by

William Henry Powell William Henry Powell (February 14, 1823 – October 6, 1879), was an American artist who was born and died in New York City. Powell is known for a painting of the Battle of Lake Erie, of which one copy hangs in the Ohio state capitol building ...

, ''Baptism of Pocahontas'' by

John Gadsby Chapman John Gadsby Chapman (December 3, 1808 – November 28, 1889) was an American artist famous for ''Baptism of Pocahontas'', which was commissioned by the United States Congress and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda. Life and career Jo ...

, and ''Embarkation of the Pilgrims'' by

Robert Walter Weir Robert Walter Weir (June 18, 1803 – May 1, 1889) was an American artist and educator and is considered a painter of the Hudson River School. Weir was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1829 and was an instructor at the United States M ...

''Apotheosis of Washington''

The Apotheosis of Washington ''The Apotheosis of Washington'' is the fresco painted by Greek-Italian artist Constantino Brumidi in 1865 and visible through the oculus of the dome in the rotunda of the United States Capitol Building. The fresco is suspended above the ro ...

'' is a large

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

by Greek-Italian

, visible through the

of the dome of the rotunda. The fresco depicts

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

sitting exalted amongst the heavens. It is suspended above the rotunda floor and covers an area of .

''Frieze of American History''

The ''Frieze of American History'' is painted to appear as a carved stone

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

but is actually a

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

fresco cycle depicting 19 scenes from American history. The "frieze" occupies a band immediately below the 36 windows. Brumidi designed the frieze and prepared a sketch in 1859 but did not begin painting until 1878. Brumidi painted seven and a half scenes. While working on ''William Penn and the Indians'', Brumidi fell off the

scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

and held on to a rail for 15 minutes until he was rescued. He died a few months later in 1880. After Brumidi's death,

Filippo Costaggini 300px, Filippo Costaggini Filippo Costaggini (1839–April 15, 1904) was an artist from Rome, Italy, who worked in the United States Capitol. He and Constantino Brumidi both trained at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, and he came to the United ...

was commissioned to complete the eight and a half remaining scenes in Brumidi's sketches. He finished in 1889 and left a gap due to an error in Brumidi's original design. In 1951,

Allyn Cox Allyn Cox (June 5, 1896 – September 26, 1982) was an American artist known for his murals, including those he painted in the United States Capitol and the U. S. Department of State. Early life Cox was a son of Kenyon Cox and his wife, the f ...

completed the frieze. Except for the last three panels named by Allyn Cox, the scenes have no particular titles and many variant titles have been given. The names given here are the names used by the Architect of the Capitol, which uses the names that Brumidi used most frequently in his letters and that were used in Edward Clark and by newspaper articles. The 19 panels are:

Statues

From the Statuary Hall Collection

Among the group of eleven statues currently encircling the rotunda against the wall at floor level are seven from the

National Statuary Hall Collection The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...

: *''

'', in bronze, from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, by

Jean Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...

(copy cast in 1934). *''

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

'' in bronze, from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, by Belle Kinney Sholz and Leopold F. Sholz, in 1928. *''

James Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

'' in marble, from

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, by

Charles Niehaus Charles Henry Niehaus (January 24, 1855 — June 19, 1935), was an American sculptor. Education Niehaus was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to German parents. He began working as a marble and wood carver, and then gained entrance to the McMicken ...

in 1886. *''

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

'' in bronze, from

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, by

Jim Brothers Jim Brothers (August 15, 1941 – August 20, 2013) was an American figurative sculptor from the U.S. state of Kansas. He died at the age of 72 at his home in Lawrence, Kansas, where he had received hospice care for cancer. His wife Kathy said he co ...

in 2003. *''

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

'' in bronze, from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, by

Chas Fagan Chas Fagan is an American artist and sculptor. He is known for painting oil portraits of all 45 U.S. Presidents (as of 2016), on commission from C-SPAN and the White House Historical Association. He also painted the official canonization image of ...

in 2009. *''

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

'' in bronze, from

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, by J. Brett Grill in 2011. *''

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

'' in bronze, from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, by Tom Corbin in 2022. These seven statues representing the presidents will remain in the rotunda indefinitely or until an act of Congress. Vinnie Ream - Lincoln

George Washington

A statue of

– a copy after French neo-classical sculptor

Jean-Antoine Houdon Jean-Antoine Houdon (; 20 March 1741 – 15 July 1828) was a French neoclassical sculptor. Houdon is famous for his portrait busts and statues of philosophers, inventors and political figures of the Enlightenment. Houdon's subjects included De ...

's 1790 full-length marble in the

Virginia State Capitol The Virginia State Capitol is the seat of state government of the Commonwealth of Virginia, located in Richmond, the third capital city of the U.S. state of Virginia. (The first two were Jamestown and Williamsburg.) It houses the oldest elected ...

– holds a prominent place. William James Hubard created a plaster copy after Houdon, that stood in the Rotunda from the late-1850s to 1934. It is now in the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. The present bronze copy replaced Hubard's plaster copy in 1934. Garfield NSHC

James Garfield

James Garfield was the last American president to be born in a log cabin. Sculptor Niehaus returned to America in 1881 and by virtue of being a native Ohioan was commissioned to sculpt a monument to the recently assassinated President

, who was also from Ohio. Mlk bust

Bust of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The bust of his head and shoulders is high and stands on a pyramidal Belgian black marble base that is high. Because the bust would be such an important and visible work of art, the Joint Committee on the Library decided to have a national competition to select a sculptor. On December 21, 1982, the Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 153, which directed the procurement of a marble bust "to serve to memorialize King's contributions on such matters as the historic legislation of the 1960s affecting civil rights and the right to vote". Senator Charles Mathias, Jr., chairman of the

Joint Committee on the Library The Joint Committee on the Library is a Joint Committee of the United States Congress devoted to the affairs and administration of the Library of Congress, which is the library of the federal legislature. There are five members of each house on the ...

, the congressional committee overseeing the procurement, said at the unveiling that "Martin Luther King takes his rightful place among the heroes of this nation."

John Woodrow Wilson John Woodrow Wilson (1922–2015) was an American Lithography, lithographer, sculptor, painter, muralist, and art teacher whose art was driven by the political climate of his time. Wilson was best known for his works portraying themes of social j ...

, the artist was awarded a $50,000 commission to cast the model in bronze. The bust was unveiled in the Rotunda on January 16, 1986, the fifty-seventh anniversary of King's birth, by Mrs. King, accompanied by their four children and King's sister.

Women's suffrage

This group portrait monument is known formally as the '' Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony'', pioneers of the

women's suffrage movement in the United States In the 1700's to early 1800's New Jersey did allow Women the right to vote before the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, 19th Amendment, but in 1807 the state restricted the right to vote to "...tax-paying, ...

. Their efforts, and the work of later suffrage activists like

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ...

, eventually led to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The work was sculpted by

Adelaide Johnson Adelaide Johnson (1859–1955) was an American sculptor whose work is displayed in the U.S. Capitol and a feminist who was devoted to the cause of equality of women. She was known as the "sculptor of the women's movement". Biography Born Sar ...

(1859–1955) from a block of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The portraits are copies of the individual busts she carved for the Court of Honor of the Woman's Building at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in 1893. The detailed busts are surrounded by rough-hewn marble at the top of the sculpture. This part of the statue, according to some, is left unfinished representing the unfinished work of women's rights. Contrary to a popular story, the intention was not that it be completed upon the ascension of the first female President — the rough-hewn section is too small to carry a proportional bust. The monument was presented to the Capitol as a gift from the women of the United States by the National Woman's Party and was accepted on behalf of Congress by the Joint Committee on the Library on February 10, 1921. The unveiling ceremony was held in the Rotunda on February 15, 1921, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, and was attended by representatives of over 70 women's organizations. Shortly after its unveiling, however, the statue was moved into the Capitol Crypt. It remained on display there for 75 years, until HCR 216 ordered it moved to the Rotunda. The statue was placed in its current location, in the Rotunda, in May 1997. File:PortraitMonument.jpg, The ''

Portrait Monument ''Portrait Monument'' is a 1920 marble sculpture by Adelaide Johnson, installed in the U.S. Capitol's rotunda, in Washington, D.C. The artwork was dedicated in 1921 and features portrait busts of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Luc ...

'' (1920) File:PortraitMonumentImage01.jpg, l. to r.:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...

Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quaker, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position of women in society when she was amongs ...

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

File:Portrait Monument Video 01.webmhd.webm, Video 1 File:PortraitMonument02.webmhd.webm, Video 2

Other statuary and artifacts

In addition to the National Statuary Hall Collection and the memorial statuary, there are a number of other pieces in the Rotunda. Next to the south entrance, opposite of the statue of George Washington, is a bronze statue of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

with the Declaration of Independence. Donated by Uriah P. Levy, it is the only work of art in the Capitol given by a private donor. At the west entrance, are marble statues of General

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

and President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. The Lincoln statue was a commissioned by Congress and designed by

Vinnie Ream Lavinia Ellen "Vinnie" Ream Hoxie (September 25, 1847 – November 20, 1914) was an American sculptor. Her most famous work is the statue of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in the United States Capitol rotunda. Ream's '' Statue of Sequoyah' ...

. The statue of Grant was a gift to Congress by the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War. It was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Il ...

Lying in state and honor

The main difference between lying in state and lying in honor is whether the person was an elected official or military officer versus being a private citizen. The designated guard of honor that keeps watch over the casket also differs. When a person lies in state, a guard of honor from the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

watches over the casket; when a person lies in honor, the

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

watches as a civilian guard of honor over the casket.

Lain in state

Government officials and military officers to have lain in state in the Capitol rotunda are as follows: *

Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...

(July 1, 1852) *

(April 19–21, 1865) *

Thaddeus Stevens Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792August 11, 1868) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, one of the leaders of the Radical Republican faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of sla ...

(August 13–14, 1868) *

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

(March 13, 1874) *

Henry Wilson Henry Wilson (born Jeremiah Jones Colbath; February 16, 1812 – November 22, 1875) was an American politician who was the 18th vice president of the United States from 1873 until his death in 1875 and a senator from Massachusetts from 1855 to ...

(November 25–26, 1875) *

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

(September 21–23, 1881) *

John Alexander Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a stat ...

(December 30–31, 1886) *

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

(September 17, 1901) *

Pierre Charles L'Enfant Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant (; August 2, 1754June 14, 1825) was a French-American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. (capital city of the United States) known today as the L'Enfant Plan (1791). Early life an ...

(April 28, 1909) *

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...

(January 20, 1917) * Unknown Soldier of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

(November 9–11, 1921) *

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

(August 8, 1923) *

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

(March 11, 1930) *

John Joseph Pershing General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948), nicknamed "Black Jack", was a senior United States Army officer. He served most famously as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the We ...

(July 18–19, 1948) * Robert Alphonso Taft (August 2–3, 1953) * Unknown Soldiers of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

(May 28–30, 1958) *

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

(November 24–25, 1963) *

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

(April 8–9, 1964) *

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

(October 23–25, 1964) *

(March 30–31, 1969) *

Everett McKinley Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 unt ...

(September 9–10, 1969) *

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

(May 3–4, 1972) *

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

(January 24–25, 1973) *

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...

(January 14–15, 1978) * Unknown Soldier of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, later identified as

Michael Blassie Michael Joseph Blassie (April 4, 1948 – May 11, 1972) was a United States Air Force officer who was killed in action during the Vietnam War in May 1972. Prior to the identification of his remains, Blassie was the unknown service member fro ...

(May 25–28, 1984) *

Claude Denson Pepper Claude Denson Pepper (September 8, 1900 – May 30, 1989) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. He represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1936 to 1951, and the Mia ...

(June 1–2, 1989) *

(June 9–11, 2004) *

(December 30, 2006 – January 2, 2007) * Daniel Ken Inouye (December 20, 2012) *

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

(August 31, 2018) *

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

(December 3–5, 2018) *

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

(July 27–28, 2020) *

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

(December 9, 2021) *

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

(January 12, 2022) *

Don Young Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from the state of Alaska. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, having been the U.S. representative for for ...

(March 29, 2022)

Lain in honor

Private citizens to have lain in honor in the United States Capitol Rotunda are as follows: *

Jacob Chestnut The 1998 United States Capitol shooting was an attack on July 24, 1998, which led to the deaths of two United States Capitol Police officers. Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson were killed when Russell Eugene Weston Jr. entered t ...

and John Gibson (July 28, 1998) *

Rosa Parks Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has honored her as "the ...

(October 30–31, 2005) *

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

(February 28 – March 1, 2018) *

Brian Sicknick Brian Sicknick, a United States Capitol Police (USCP) officer, died on January 7, 2021, after having two strokes one day after he responded to an . The District of Columbia chief medical examiner found that Sicknick had died from stroke, cla ...

(February 2–3, 2021) * William Evans (April 13, 2021) *

Hershel W. Williams Hershel Woodrow "Woody" Williams (October 2, 1923 – June 29, 2022) was a United States Marine Corps Reserve warrant officer and United States Department of Veterans Affairs veterans service representative who received the Medal of Honor, ...

(July 14, 2022) Other notable individuals, several of them being the chief justice of the United States, have lain in state in the

United States Supreme Court Building The Supreme Court Building houses the Supreme Court of the United States. Also referred to as "The Marble Palace," the building serves as the official workplace of the chief justice of the United States and the eight associate justices of th ...

while other individuals such as

Ronald H. Brown Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President of the United States, President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairm ...

, have lain in state in the Herbert C. Hoover Building.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...

Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951October 17, 2019) was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecess ...

and

have lain in state on the grounds of the

inside of

References

External links

Capitol Rotunda
from the

website {{DEFAULTSORT:United States Capitol Rotunda Rotunda Government buildings with domes Rotundas in the United States Articles containing video clips