Virginia State Capitol

Thomas Jefferson’s inspiration

    Age isn't everything, but it means a lot in Richmond.  The Virginia State Capitol is the second oldest working capitol in the United States (after Annapolis, Maryland).  The Virginia Capitol has been in continuous use since it was built to Thomas Jefferson's specifications in 1788.  Jefferson modeled this Classical Revival building after Maison Carree, an ancient Roman temple he admired in Nimes, France.

    The Virginia State Capitol does have a dome, as did all of the buildings that Thomas Jefferson helped design, but it is not visible from the exterior.  The rotunda dome, 10 feet below the roof, can only be seen from within.

Beneath the skylighted dome stands the life-size statue of George Washington done by French artist, Jean Antoine Houdon.  Houdon visited Mount Vernon, and George Washington posed for this work, the only Washington statue done from life.  Houdon carved it from Carrara marble and exhibited the statue in the Louvre before shipping it to America in 1796.  As you look at the statue you can almost feel the trouser legs gathered into the tight boots.  The veins are clearly visible beneath the taut gloves, even the strands of braid on the epaulets can be discerned.

    When Lafayette saw the statue he said, "This is the man, himself, I can almost realize he is going to move."  How fortunate that he appreciated the work of Houdon because the sculptor also did a bust of Lafayette, which is displayed in the Rotunda.  Lafayette and John D. Rockefeller are the only two non-Virginians honored in the Capitol.  Encircling the statue of the first president are niches containing busts of the seven other Virginia presidents---Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.

    A portrait of the second honorary Virginian, John D. Rockefeller, who merited this distinction for his work in restoring Colonial Williamsburg, hangs in the Old Senate Chamber.  The chandelier-lit chamber has two additional paintings.  One depicts the three ships that first brought settlers to Virginia in May 1607: the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.  The other large painting shows the Revolutionary forces storming the British Redoubt Number 10 during the Battle of Yorktown on October 14, 1781.

    The final room on your Capitol tour is the Old House of Delegates chamber, scene of many historic events.  The Virginia House of Delegates met here from 1788 to 1906 as did the Confederate Congress while Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy.  In 1807 Aaron Burr was acquitted of treason in a trial before U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall.  More than 50 years later on April 23, 1861, Robert E. Lee stood in this room and accepted command of the Virginia armies.  A bronze statue of Lee now stands on the very place he stood.

    Lee is one of many Virginians honored here.  There are busts of such Revolutionary statesmen as George Mason, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry and George Wythe.  Some of the Confederate heroes also commemorated are Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart, Joseph E. Johnson and Fitzhugh Lee.  Two non-Virginians who figured prominently in the destiny of the South are also represented---Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy and his Vice-President, Alexander H. Stephens.  Finally there are busts of Henry Clay, Matthew Fontaine Maury, John Marshall, Sam Houston and Cyrus McCormick.

    One item not to be missed in this chamber is the Edwardian-style mace that rests on a table in front of the Speaker's chair.  This symbol of government was presented to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1974 by the Jamestown Foundation.  The mace was made in England of silver with a 24-karat gold wash.

You can tour the State Capitol any day of the week at no charge. Monday-Friday 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Sunday, 1 P.M. to 4 P.M.

  Directions: The Virginia State Capitol is on Capitol Square between 9th and 11th streets in downtown Richmond.