Here I am in the newspaper reading room in the Madison library of congress........they even changed the door u enter and exit...they switched them.......they did the same to the escalators between the Capital visitor's center and the Capital building.






The U.S. Capitol Rotunda is a large, domed, circular room 96 feet in diameter and 180 feet in height located in the center of the United States Capitol on the second floor. The Rotunda is used for important ceremonial events as authorized by concurrent resolution, such as the lying in state of eminent citizens and the dedication of works of art. The Rotunda canopy features the painting entitled The Apotheosis of Washington, and the walls of the Rotunda hold historic paintings and a frescoed band, or "frieze," depicting significant events in American history.

As it appears today, the U.S. Capitol Rotunda is the result of two distinct building campaigns. Dr. William Thornton, who won the competition for the design of the U.S. Capitol in 1793, conceived the idea of a central rotunda. Due to a shortage of funds and materials, sporadic construction phases, and the fire set by the British in 1814, the Capitol Rotunda was not begun until 1818. The Rotunda was completed under the direction of Charles Bulfinch by the time of the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824. Conceived in the age of neoclassicism, the Rotunda was intended to recall the Pantheon, the ancient Roman temple.
Bulfinch created in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda an ambitious orchestration of architecture, sculpture and painting. The curved sandstone walls are divided by fluted Doric pilasters with wreaths of olive branches carved in the frieze above. Eight framed niches hold large historical paintings. Four revolutionary period scenes were commissioned by Congress from John Trumbull in 1817: Declaration of Independence, Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and General George Washington Resigning his Commission. They were placed between 1819 and 1824. Four scenes of early exploration were added between 1840 and 1855: Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn, Discovery of the Mississippi by William Powell, Baptism of Pocahontas by John Chapman, and Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Weir.