A magnificent life-size marble statue of George Washington stands under an interior dome in the two-story Rotunda, located in the central portion of the Capitol. In June of 1784 General Assembly commissioned this statue "of the finest marble and best workmanship" as a tribute to Virginia's most respected citizen-soldier. Governor Benjamin Harrison wrote to Thomas Jefferson, who was serving on a diplomatic mission in Paris, and asked him to engage a sculptor. Jefferson secured the services of Jean-Antoine Houdon, a skilled French artist. In the fall of 1785 Houdon visited Mount Vernon to study the General. He made a plaster mask of Washington's face, took detailed measurements of his body, and modeled a terra cotta bust. The statue was sculpted in France from fine Carrara marble and shipped to America early in 1796. Placed in the Rotunda on May 14th of that same year, the statue has been on nearly continuous display ever since. It was viewed by many of Washington's contemporaries, all of whom attested that it was a perfect likeness.
Houdon's statue alludes to the similarities between Washington and the ancient Roman General Cincinnatus who, when Rome no longer needed him, gave up his military power and returned to the simple life of a farmer. The artist carefully balanced the military and civilian elements of Washington's career: his sword is by his side, and he rests his left hand on a fasces (a bundle of rods, which was a Roman symbol of power), but he carries a civilian walking cane and stands next to a plow. Washington wears his Revolutionary uniform, but his head is uncovered and his facial expression is fatherly. Houdon's monument to America's foremost hero recalls Washington's life as a soldier, statesman, and virtuous private citizen.
The Rotunda dome (30 feet in diameter) is located inside the Capitol, directly under an exterior skylight on the A-line roof. The dome was added to the building by 1794, within 6 years after it was first occupied. Jefferson made no reference to a dome in his first written description for this central space, which he called the "conference room." Whether adding the dome was a later idea of Jefferson's or a modification made by Samuel Dobie, the actual builder of the Capitol, remains unknown. We do know Jefferson intended for a statue of Washington to be placed on this spot.
The General Assembly commissioned a marble bust of Lafayette and a marble statue of Washington in 1784, with the intent that the statuary would be placed in the new Capitol as symbols of public virtue from the Old and the New worlds. These two statues were done from life by renowned French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Lafayette was voted a citizen of Virginia by act of assembly in 1785 for his valuable services in behalf of the Commonwealth during the American Revolution. His bust was received from France in 1789.
In 1930 the General Assembly authorized the placing of seven marble busts in the Rotunda as a Virginia "Hall of Presidents." All seven busts were installed on various dates in 1931, using private funds. Virginia is known as the "Mother of Presidents" with eight of her sons (including Washington) serving in that office. The busts depict Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.
The Old Hall of the House of Delegates is located off the Rotunda in the north end of the building. At 76 feet in width, it is the largest room in Jefferson's Capitol. A dramatic coved ceiling, projecting cornices and carved interior woodwork reflect the Capitol's Roman Classicism. Delegates assembled here in rows of seats arranged around the Speaker's chair. As there was no other large meeting hall in the area, the room was also used for community events and for church services in its early years, with Episcopal and Presbyterian congregations meeting on alternate Sundays. The Virginia House of Delegates met in the Old Hall regularly from 1788 until 1904.
This room originally served for more than 50 years as the General Court Room for Virginia's judiciary. The Senate moved into this room around 1840. During the Civil War a remodeled version of this room served as the "Hall of Congress" for Confederate legislators. The Senate of Virginia returned here in 1865 from an upstairs room and held its last session here in 1904.
Virginia is the first of the 13 English-speaking colonies in North America. The original seat of colonial government was at Jamestown. The painting by Griffith Baily Coale, showing three ships ascending the James River in 1607, was authorized by the General Assembly with public funds to pay tribute to the 105 settlers who established the first successful English settlement in the New World.
The large painting by the French artist Eugene-Louis Lami shows an American attack on a British redoubt at Yorktown in October 1781. That same month British General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington and America won its national independence on the fields of Virginia. The painting was a gift to the Commonwealth in 1878 from Virginia-born philanthropist William Corcoran.
The 174 year historical journey from Jamestown to Yorktown transformed Virginia from a colony into a commonwealth. "Commonwealth" refers to a form of government which relies on the consent of its citizens rather than the power of an absolute monarch.
This room contains a large full-length portrait of Thomas Jefferson painted by George Catlin, who copied an original portrait by Thomas Sully on display at West Point.
Jefferson once wrote that "architecture is my delight." After the Revolution Virginians instinctively turned to Jefferson and asked him to design a new state Capitol, combining "economy with elegance and utility."
The plaster model on display, built by Jean-Pierre Fouquet, shows Jefferson's original architectural intent for the new Capitol of Virginia, which he designed in 1785-86. Jefferson designed this building to be "a temple of sovereignty." He hoped to impress foreign visitors, raise our reputation in the eyes of the world, and inspire citizens of Virginia.
Jefferson was responsible for recommending the Shockoe hilltop location, choosing the Classical temple form, and arranging the interior floor plans to accommodate the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of Virginia's new "Commonwealth" government. (Today the Supreme Court of Virginia meets nearby on 9th Street.)
Between 1904 and 1906, Architect John K. Peebles (a University of VA graduate) completed Jefferson's original architectural intent by adding front steps to the building. In addition, Peebles complimented the original Capitol with compatible classical wings for each house of the Virginia Assembly, flanking the original temple form structure.
The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate in the West wing and the Speaker of the House of Delegates presides in the East wing. Joint sessions of the Assembly meet in the East wing. Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher (both honorary citizens of Virginia) have addressed joint sessions of the Assembly there. In May 2007, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain addressed the Virginia General Assembly there. Both legislative chambers have been recently restored to their appearance circa 1910.
Intending to leave no doubts about the exterior form of the great specimen of classical architecture that would rise in Richmond, Jefferson adopted the costly European practice of commissioning a scale model of the proposed building and turned to the eminent model maker Jean-Pierre Fouquet (1752-1829).
The plaster model for the Capitol of Virginia arrived in Richmond late in 1786. Jefferson intended to provide "models of the front and side.in plaister of Paris" along with the drawings of his design prepared by Clérisseau. Jefferson justified the additional expense of the model by proclaiming it "absolutely necessary for the guide of workmen not very expert in their art." He described the maker of the model, Jean-Pierre Fouquet (1752-1829), as "an artist who had been employed by the Ambassador of France to Constantinople, in making models of the most celebrated remains of ancient architecture in that country." Fouquet was one of the most accomplished artisans working in the French architectural model making tradition of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The model for the Capitol of Virginia is his earliest extant work. Fouquet's model, constructed of plaster of Paris at a scale of 1:60, or one inch to every five feet and reinforced with internal iron rods, displayed architectural details with precision.
From 2004 to 2007 the existing Capitol was restored to preserve exterior brick work and interior woodwork. Early 20th-century interior decorations were recreated in prominent public spaces. Useable square footage was enlarged by more than one-third by means of a new 27,000 square foot underground extension in front of the existing building. The expansion is largely "invisible architecture" in deference to the Classical symmetry of the existing building.
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