Mr. McEwen’s corridor opens directly into a richly decorated gallery,
serving as a special reading room for members of the House of
Representatives. No apartment in the Library is more lavishly and
sumptuously ornamented. The floor is dark quartered oak; the walls
have a dado of heavy oak panelling about eleven feet high; and the
deep window-arches are finished entirely in the same material. Above
the dado the walls are hung with olive green silk. The ceiling is
beamed and panelled, and is finished in gold and colors, with painted
decorations in the panels, and encrusted conventional ornament in
cream white along the beams. Over the three doors are carved oak
tympanums, by Mr. Charles H. Niehaus, comprising two different
designs--the first a central cartouche bearing an owl, and supported
on either side by the figure of a seated youth; the other, the
American eagle flanked by two cherubs. At either end of the room is
a magnificent mantel of Sienna marble. Over the fireplace is a large
mosaic panel by Mr. Frederick Dielman, representing, at one end
of the room, _Law_, and at the other, _History_. Above is a heavy
cornice, supported on beautiful columns of Pavannazzo marble, the
general color of which is gray instead of yellow, but with a system
of veining which agrees very well with that of the Sienna. In the
centre of the cornice is a small cartouche, of green onyx in the
mantel to the south, and of labradorite, or Labrador spar, in the
other, the latter stone being remarkable for its exquisite gradations
of deep peacock-blue, continually changing with the light and the
point from which it is seen.
[Illustration: THE HOUSE READING ROOM.]
=Mr. Dielman’s Mosaics.=--Mr. Dielman’s mosaic panels are of the
same size and shape, each being seven and a half feet wide and
three feet seven inches high. They were executed in Venice, which
for generations has been celebrated for the delicacy, accurate
coloring, and nicety of fitting, of its mosaics. The process and
methods used in this work are much the same as in the ordinary
sorts of mosaic--such as would be required for a ceiling, for
example--although, of course, the pieces, or _tesseræ_, must be
fitted with much greater care and patience, so that every piece may
take its place in a perfect gradation of color. The work of the
painter consisted in making full size cartoons in the exact colors
desired in the mosaic; from these the Italian workmen prepared the
finished panels, and sent them to this country ready to be put in
place. The cartoons, however, were necessarily painted as much as
possible in simple outlines and shades of color, for, although the
Italian shops are said to have at their command enamels of no less
than twenty-five thousand different tints, it would be obviously
impossible with such a material to reproduce exactly every variation
of tone and line of which the brush is capable. Certain refinements
of technique, therefore, and more especially the vagueness of color
which is often so desirable in the painted canvas, must be avoided in
a cartoon made for such a purpose as Mr. Dielman’s.
[Illustration: HISTORY.--BY FREDERICK DIELMAN.]
The mosaic at the north end of the room represents _Law_, typified
by a young and beautiful woman seated on a massive marble throne and
holding in one hand a sword with which to chastise the guilty, and
in the other a palm branch with which to reward the meritorious. Her
head is surrounded by a glory, and she wears on her breast the Ægis
of Minerva to signify that she is clad in the armor of righteousness
and wisdom. On the steps of her throne are the scales of Justice and
the book of Law, and a pair of white doves emblematic of mercy. The
visitor will notice that Mr. Dielman’s conception of Law includes the
conventional typification of Justice, but at the same time slightly
differs from it. The reason is that he has wished to indicate not
only the judicial but the legislative side of Law; hence the freer
air of command, and, in particular, the outdoor landscape of woods
and hills, signifying a less restricted authority than that of the
courtroom. Such a typical symbol of Justice as the scales is less
conspicuously introduced, and the usual globe is entirely omitted.
To the left of the central throne are three figures representing, as
one may see by the names in the streamer above them, respectively
Industry, Peace, and Truth, the friends and supporters of Law; while
to the left Mr. Dielman introduces three other figures typifying
Fraud, Discord and Violence, the enemies of Law. Industry and
Violence are represented as male figures; the other four as female.
Very appropriately, the first group seems to be advancing unafraid
toward the throne of the Goddess; while the figures to the right
shrink terrified from her presence. The emblems which distinguish
the various figures are easily understood: Industry with a wheel
and hammer; Peace with an olive-branch and crown of olive; Truth
with the lilies; Fraud, represented as a withered hag; Discord, with
disordered hair and garment, and holding a pair of knotted serpents;
and Violence, in a steel cap with the blazing torch lying on the
ground before him.
[Illustration: GOVERNMENT.--BY CARL GUTHERZ.]
Mr. Dielman’s second panel represents _History_. The titular figure,
that of a woman of great charm and beauty, stands in the centre
holding a pen and a book. On either side are marble tablets bearing
the names of great historians--Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius,
Livy, Tacitus, Baeda, Comines, Hume, Gibbon, Niebuhr, Guizot, Ranke,
Bancroft, Motley. At the foot of one tablet is a laurel wreath,
for peace, and on the other side an oak wreath, for war--the twin
topics of history--each accompanied by a palm branch, the general
reward of success. On either side of the panel extends a marble bench
on which are seated two female figures representing Mythology and
Tradition, the predecessors of history. Mythology, the expounder
of the ancient tales of the gods and heroes, stands for theories
of the system of the universe, in token of which she holds in her
right hand a globe of the earth. Beside her is a sphinx--the female
sphinx of the Greeks, not the male sphinx of Egypt--suggesting the
eternally insoluble Riddle of the World. At the other end of the
panel, Tradition, an aged granddame, relates her oldwives’ tales to
the boy who sits listening before her. The figure represents the
whole body of mediæval legend and folk-tale. Reminders of a past age
are brought out in the distaff she holds in her lap, the Romanesque
capital on which the boy sits, the harp he holds in his hand--with
its reference to the wandering minstrel of the Middle Ages and his
store of tales--and in the shield, very likely the text of the story
which is being told, which leans against the tablet.
In the background of the panel, seeming to float amidst the clouds,
are three ancient buildings, an Egyptian pyramid, a Greek temple, and
a Roman amphitheatre--signifying the three nations of antiquity in
which History was most highly developed.
=Mr. Gutherz’s Paintings.=--Along the centre of the ceiling are seven
panels containing decorations by Mr. Carl Gutherz, representing _The
Spectrum of Light_. Each of the seven colors shown in the spectrum is
typified by a central figure standing for some phase of achievement,
human or divine. Other features of the panel are two cherubs in
each corner, representing arts or sciences, and a series of eight
escutcheons, one with the title of the decoration, and the other
containing the seals of the various States, the whole being combined
in a single arabesque pattern by an elaborate design of scroll
ornamentation.
[Illustration: OAK DOORHEAD.--SENATE READING ROOM. BY HERBERT ADAMS.]
The order of the subjects begins in the centre and goes first north
and then south from that point. The color of the centre panel is
_Yellow_, and the subject _The Creation of Light_. The Divine
Intelligence, sitting enthroned in the midst of Space, and enveloped
in mist and clouds, utters the words, “Let there be Light.” The
corner figures represent Physics, Metaphysics, Psychology, and
Theology.
The second color is _Orange_, and the subject _The Light of
Excellence_, suggested to the artist by Longfellow’s poem,
_Excelsior_. A spirit stands midway on a pyramid of steps (signifying
Progress), which is lost in the unknown distance. She beckons to
man to join her on the heights where she is standing, and holds
in one hand the wreath which crowns every effort for Excellence.
In the corner, the cherubs typify Architecture and Sculpture;
Transportation; the Phonograph and Telephone; and Invention and
Design.
The third panel is _Red_, representing _The Light of Poetry_. Poetry,
mounted upon Pegasus, holds a torch in one hand and with the other
reaches toward that light of the ideal for which he must always
strive, but which he can never attain. In the background half-seen
figures represent the afterglow of Tradition and Mythology. The
corner groups stand for Tragedy and Comedy; Lyric Poetry; Pastoral
Poetry; and Fable.
_Violet_, the fourth color, is symbolized as _The Light of State_.
The United States being regarded as the highest form of government
yet achieved, its emblems are selected as the best expression of
the ideal State. This being the case, _Violet_ was the color under
which, according to the conception of the artist, the United States
might best be represented, since violet results from the union of
the American colors, Red, White, and Blue. The figure is that of
Columbia, with a shield emblazoned with the United States flag, and
carrying a staff surmounted by a liberty-cap, while the American
eagle hovers above her shoulder. The cherubs in the corners represent
the Suffrage, Justice, Liberty, and Equality.
The next subject is _Green_, or _The Light of Research_. The central
figure is the Spirit of the Lens, which in the telescope and the
microscope reveals to the scientist the secrets of the universe. She
is surrounded by the sea, with its myriad forms of life furnishing
her with the material for her investigations. The cherubs in one
corner have a microscope. In another, they represent Chemistry; in
the third Archæology (Egyptology deciphering the hieroglyphics); and
in the fourth, Mineralogy--all selected as being especially concerned
with original investigation and research.
_Blue_ is _The Light of Truth_. The Spirit of Truth crushes the
dragon of Ignorance and Falsehood under foot, and reaches to heaven
for a ray of light with which to inflict the final wound. The blue
of the background is the blue of daylight,--light from darkness. The
cherubs hold the level, the plumb, and the Bible, each considered as
an agent in indicating the presence of a universal law.
The last panel represents _Indigo_ as _The Light of Science_. The
figure represents Astronomy, who is guided by the soul (figured as
a butterfly fluttering above her head) to explore the movement of
the stars. The cherubs represent various phases of astronomical
study. One of the figures, for example, explains the theory of
mathematics, showing on the fingers of the hand that _one_ is the
unit of everything; a second looks through a telescope; and others
are studying books and making calculations.