Colombus, OH
The Buckeye State has built itself a very interesting statehouse¹, marrying a typical rectangular Greek Revival building with an atypical cylindrical cupola. Its design, was based on a composite of three designs, that was then redesigned by a fourth architect . . . and from the exterior it shows.
Inside though is a different (and better) story. The first floor that originally housed the coal-fired furnace is now a museum with the Map Room at its center. The Map Room has a mosaic tile floor that is a map of Ohio that consists of 88 tiles, one for each county. The balance of the first floor contains the Ohio Statehouse Museum Education Center and a gift shop. The entire floor is well laid out and a very good use of space.
The floor above contains the rotunda that contains both the Required and the Unique:
The Required:
The Dome: Although on the outside there is a cylindrical cupola, on the inside it is the traditional dome that most state capitols possess. According to our guide (and my research), Ohio is the only state capitol that has this arrangement.
Bust of Lincoln: Even though Lincoln has only a tenuous connection to Ohio (see below), there is a modest bust of him in the rotunda. I think this has to do with the fact that every politician wants to have a connection to the Great Emancipator if only to hope some of his luster rubs off on them.
The Flag: On one of the walls (opposite the Vicksburg sculpture - see below) is the historic flag that flew above the statehouse when the funeral train carrying the body of President Abraham Lincoln arrived on April 29, 1865. Besides the patriotism that is of course displayed by displaying this flag, it also reinforces the tenuous connection the building has to Lincoln (see above).
The Unique:
The Floor: Although the design directly beneath the dome is rather ordinary, the surrounding floor is anything but. The hexagon tiles are arranged in such a way that they swirl in different directions creating patterns in the floor that are both mesmerizing and jarring.
The Walls: Most capitols clog their walls with art that usually includes banal portraits of every governor, senate, and house leader. Not this one as Ohio has chosen quality of quantity, with hanging a huge canvas depicting The Battle of Lake Erie by William Henry Powell². It was so well received that the U.S. Congress requested that Powell paint him a larger copy which hangs in the U.S. Capitol. This one though smaller is still quite striking.
A relief sculpture of the surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, to the three victorious Ohioan generals: Grant, McPherson, and Sherman.
The fourth wall of the rotunda is left bare as if to say "less is more," in essence a pre-Lincoln mic drop.
The rotunda walls are salmon.
