Washington, D.C., aka. "The District of Columbia" or simply "The District", lies on the north bank of the Potomac River, sandwiched between the states of Maryland and Virginia. Officially founded in 1790, Washington, D.C. houses the entire United States government.
The area between the two most important monuments, the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument is known as the "National Mall". The Capitol Building is located on the eastern side of the mall.
At the bottom center of the picture above is the Capitol Building. On your map, find and CIRCLE the Capitol Building and Capitol Hill around it. Now, find and CIRCLE the two buildings behind (to the east of) the Capitol Building. The northernmost building is the Supreme Court Building. The one below it, with the dome, is the Library of Congress, that has 30 miles of bookshelves holding some 120 million items, including 18 million books. It is the world's largest library.
Answer the following questions:
- The above shot is a picture of the U.S. Capitol Building after it was burned by the British in the War of 1812. What notable "architectural structure" is missing from this building, one that's present in the building today (SHOWN BELOW)?
- The U.S. Capitol Building was built in the fashion of the classics. Examine the picture below, the Pantheon in Rome:
The dome is called a "rotunda". What English word do we get from "rotunda"?- This is a drawing of the original "Pantheon". What similarities besides the "rotunda" are there between this building and the U.S. Capitol Building?
- The root "pan-" means "all"; the root "-the" means "god". So, the word "Pantheon" means "All Gods". If the Founding Fathers copied the Pantheon for their Capitol Building, what do you think this building was to be used for? What "kinds" of people would meet in this building?
- Benjamin Latrobe, a Freemason, was the first architect of the U.S. Capital Building in 1800. The above picture is a drawing of the building in 1840. He included Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns in his design. The Ionic column was supposed to represent "wisdom", the Doric, "strength", and the Corinthian, "beauty". Examine the drawings of the columns below:
- Using the terms mentioned above, which do you think is the Ionic column? the Doric? the Corinthian? Why?
- So far, we've seen how the Founding Fathers seem to have copied the legends of Ancient Rome in their design and construction of the U.S. Capitol Building. Let's take a step inside of the building itself. Painted in a mural under the dome or rotunda of the building is the following, called The Apotheosis of Washington. It was painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi. It is 65 feet in diameter and took just 11 months to complete.
- Describe what you see. (NOTE: You can click on the above picture to make it bigger).
- "Apotheosis" means "glorification" or "celebration". At the center of the picture is President George Washington. Examine the image below:
- Washington is flanked by two women. Let's examine the one on the left. With his right hand, what is Washington pointing to? What do you think this represents?
- What's in Washington's left hand? On his left side is a woman wearing an olive branch crown and blowing a horn. What do you think this woman represents?
- Now, let's put it all together. Remember the following: The Parthenon (and the definition of the word), the rotunda, the Apotheosis (and the definition of the word). How did the Founding Fathers view themselves, all government officials, and President Washington himself?