I am now reading The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Deception Point. Early in the book, there is a scene in which Robert Langdon enters National Statuary Hall, inside the US Capitol. I have only been to our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., once, and I was in the sixth grade. The George H.W. Bush Administration was long ago, now, and I was really too young to grasp the significance and power of that great city. In fact, I cannot even remember if I even entered Statuary Hall. My school group certainly entered the Capitol building, but I would have to find those old photos to refresh my memory.
Also known as the Old Hall of the House, Statuary Hall was the meeting place for the US House of Representatives for over 50 years. These days, the two-story, semicircular room south of the Rotunda. The Statuary Hall Collection is a series of 100 statues, given as gifts by the 50 states, but not all are on display in Statuary Hall. Thirty-Eight of those statues reside in Statuary Hall, while the others are dispersed throughout the Capitol building.
Whenever I get a chance to return to Washington, D.C., which will, hopefully, be soon, I will be sure to take in the history and art of the statues in Statuary Hall and the entire US Capitol. We should all be very appreciative of our nation’s history and art. All of it is there for us to see, and we should all take advantage of the opportunities we have to view these national treasures.
TarHeelPirate 