Minnesota State Capitol

This week I had the pleasure of visiting our state capitol. A very large and beautiful building to look at from the outside, I hadn't been inside since I was a child in elementary school. I drive past the capitol quite often as it is very near my current school and on my drive home. I like how it is sort of a reflection of the Cathedral of St. Paul, which is literally just down the street from the capitol. The street is a straight line from one to the other which you could walk in about 15 minutes time. The two buildings both have large dome structures and a look of the Renaissance period.

The Minnesota state capitol looks like a building from the Renaissance period because Cass Gilbert, the man who designed it, was paying homage to Michelangelo and the classical buildings he designed and built. Cass Gilbert spent much of his time training in Europe to be an architect, and most of this time was concentrated on the Renaissance period. The capitol dome is the second largest in the world, second only to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, which it was designed after. The designer Cass Gilbert knew that the design for St. Peter's was on the verge of being unstable so he decided to make a smaller dome. But never the less, we still have the second largest marble dome structure in the world right here in Minnesota. Buildings of this type were built to convey power and wealth. Minnesota had both of these at the time the capitol building was built. At the time it was built 4.5 million was spent, in todays currency that would be over a billion dollars. Minnesota has no where near that type of budget these days, but 100 years ago we had no problem spending that kind of money on our capitol.

Going inside the building is a wonderful experience. You suddenly feel as though are in a very serious and important place. When you walk in you do not immediately see the rotunda, you need to walk around a few columns first. When you stand in the middle of the rotunda and look upwards you are immediately hit with a sense of wonder and power. It's like looking up into the sky at night with a large star in the middle. What your really looking at is a blue ceiling with a large spherical crystal chandelier in the center. Around the sides of the dome, below the blue, are murals of what look like greek characters. These were painted by Edward Emerson Simmons. They are in various scenes that imply hard work and family, and also the struggles of life and the benefits. I believe that when the architect was designing this building he wanted to portray power and a tribute to our past ancestors who worked hard to get us where we are now.

Edward Emerson Simmons, the painter of the murals in the rotunda, wanted to portray justice and democracy, the two main pillars of our state government. This goes hand in hand with the the quadriga which is on the front of the capitol. It is made up of our horses that represent earth, wind, fire, and water. Standing between the horses are two women that symbolize civilization. There is also a man standing on the chariot representing prosperity. All together this represents what our state of Minnesota is known for.

Two of the main types of paintings hanging or displayed in the state capitol are realism and allegory. Realism trys to convey events as they happened and allegory conveys ideas or possibilities. I found two that were great representations of these types of painting. The first, which is a representation of realism, is the Third Minnesota Entering Little Rock. This was painted by Stanley Arthur and hangs in the governors office. It shows a young drummer boy leading the army into Little Rock, AK. The second painting, which represents allegory, is of three women sitting in a semi-circle on stone benches.. One has wings, another a book, and the third is holding a bridle. I believe that this represents the importance of education, religion, and the farming industry to Minnesotans. This painting hangs in one of the main staircases at the capitol, just off the rotunda, and was painted by Kenyon Cox.

My visit to the capitol was a great one. I had a nice time learning about some of Minnesotas history. I am hoping to go back to the capitol in the middle of October when they will be hosting a guided tour in the evening called Shadows and Spirits at the Capitol. This is a guided tour in the evening after dark where they use all the original lighting in the capitol, including lighting the large crystal chandalier in the rotunda. Also the tour is led by the night watchman who dresses in early 20th century costume. Should be a very interesting and fun night.