Wisconsin State Capitol

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The park surrounding Wisconsin's capitol is the venue of several events throughout the year, including Taste of Madison, a showcase of more than 60 local restaurants, shown here in 2000. Scaffolding covers the southeast side of the rotunda as part of a project to clean and restore the building's exterior.

Wisconsin State Capitol by night

A view of the Capitol from outside

Pillars at the Wisconsin State Capitol

The Wisconsin State Capitol, in Madison, Wisconsin, houses both arms of the Wisconsin legislature, the state Supreme Court, and the Office of the Governor. The current building, completed in 1917, is the fourth building to serve as state capitol since the first territorial legislature convened in 1836 and the third building since Wisconsin was granted statehood in 1848.

[edit] The 1904 fire

On the night of February 26, 1904, a gas jet ignited a newly-varnished ceiling in the third capitol building. A nearby university reservoir was empty, so water had to be brought in from Milwaukee to fight the blaze. The situtation was further complicated by the bitter cold temperatures; by the time the water reached Madison, it had started to freeze. As a result, the entire structure except the north wing burned to the ground.

In a bitter irony, the fire occurred just 5 weeks after the State Legislature voted to cancel the capitol's fire insurance policy.

[edit] The current building

In 1906, the state building commission approved plans by architect George Browne Post for the new state capitol. Due to financial limitations and the need for immediate office space to house state government employees, the construction of the new building was extended over several years and focused on building one wing at a time.

The building is modeled after the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., except that it is only inches shorter than the national capitol. The dome is constructed from White Bethel Granite from Vermont and is the only granite dome in the United States.

Forward by Jean P Miner

It is topped with the 15 foot 5 inch (4.7 m) 22 carat (92%) gold-gilded bronze statue "Wisconsin" by sculptor Daniel Chester French. The statue is commonly misidentified as "Lady Forward" or "Miss Forward", which is the name of another statue on the capitol grounds.

The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001. A 1990 state law prevents any building within one mile of the capitol from being taller than the base of the columns surrounding and supporting its dome.^[1]

[edit] Wisconsin Capitol sculpture program

Architect Post designed an elaborate sculpture program for the building. Initially the statue of Wisconsin on the top of the dome was promised to Helen Farnsworth Mears but when Daniel Chester French agreed to produce the finial figure, the commission was switched to him. This work, often referred to as the "Golden Lady," consists of an allegorical figure reminiscent of Athena, dressed in Greek garb, and wearing a helmet topped by a badger, the Wisconsin state totem. In the left hand she holds a globe with an eagle perched on top of it. Across her chest is a large W, for Wisconsin, a detail probably only viewed from an airplane.

Post's original concept for the building called for four small domes to be placed at the foot of the the large one, but at some point the plans were changed and the domes were substituted by four sculptural group by Karl Bitter. These groups [again, in Greek clothing] symbolized Faith, Strength, Prosperity and Abundance.

Each of the four wings of the building is fronted by a pediment whose figures relate to the principle activities that were to take place within. Thus the east wing, housing the Supreme Court contains a pediment by Bitter entitled Law, the south has Adolph Alexander Weinman's Virtues and Traits of Character, for the wing containing the State Senate. Bitter's other pediment, the west, is Agriculture, while Attilio Piccirilli's Wisdom and Learning of the World adorns the north pediment.

The carving of all this sculpture is attributed to the Piccirilli Brothers.

French's Wisconsin	East pediment by Bitter	South pediment by Weinman	West pediment by Bitter
North pediment by Piccirilli	Knowledge, NE group, Bitter	Faith, SE group, Bitter	Strength, SW group, Bitter
Prosperity and Abundance, NW group, Bitter

[edit] Trivia

Some of the stones used in the building contain fossils. The second flight of stairs in the north wing, on the left side of the grand staircase, fourth step from the bottom, contains a starfish fossil estimated to be 400 million years old. [1]

The remains of Old Abe, the Civil War eagle of the 8th Wisconsin regiment, now depicted on the shoulder patch of the 101st Airborne, were destroyed in the 1904 fire.

The national Freedom From Religion Foundation places a "Winter Solstice" sign in the Wisconsin State Capitol every December that says, "At this THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." This sign amounts to an official endorsement of the religion of secular humanism by the Great State of Wisconsin.

[edit] Sources and resources and references

• 1. ^ 1989 Wisconsin Act 222. State of Wisconsin (April 12, 1990). Retrieved on 2006-10-03.

• Dennis, James M., Karl Bitter Architectural Sculptor: 1867 - 1915, University of Wisconsin Press 1967

• Lombardo, Josef Vincent, Atilio Piccirilli: Life of an American Sculptor, Pitman Publishing Corporation, New York 1944

• Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture in America, unpublished manuscript

• Landau, Sarah Bradford, George B. Post: Picturesque Designer and Determined Realist, The Montacelli Press, New York, NY, 1998

• Rajer, Anton and Christine Style, Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials and Masterpieces in the Badger State, SOS! Save Outdoor Sculpture, Wisconsin, Madison Wisconsin, 1999

• Schevill, , Ferdinand, Karl Bitter – A Biography, University of Chicago Press, Chicago Illinois, 1917

• Wisconsin State Capitol: Guide and History, State of Wisconsin Department of Administration, Division of Buildings and Grounds, 1991

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wisconsin State Capitol

• Wisconsin State Capitol Historic Structure Report (1995-2005)
• Information on the State Capitol from the State of Wisconsin

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 43.074635° -89.384562°
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