Seasonal flower beds add a splash of color to the Capitol building's well-maintained landscaping.
M.P. KING, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
The Trumpeter's Balcony viewing area in the Capitol building offers visitors a breathtaking view of the Capitol rotunda from the fourth floor, which is 92 feet above the ground floor.
JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
The Capitol is as striking from a nearby condo building in Madison as it is up close.
MICHAEL P. KING, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES
Daniel Chester French, who carved the "Wisconsin," statue atop the Capitol building also created the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Wisconsin’s Capitol building may not be perfect – stone masons left one tiny job unfinished when it was built, a tradition because “only God is perfect” – but it is a perfect destination for a family-friendly outing.
As you enter the rotunda on the ground floor, the first-floor balcony overhead acts as a sort of aperture, limiting your ability to take in the whole until you go up one more floor. But the view is still stunning, especially to first-time visitors. It's also the one place in the Capitol where it's socially acceptable to lie on the floor, as groups of children and adults have done for years as they gaze at the dome overhead.
Looking up from the Capitol’s first-floor rotunda, the symbolic center of the state, the inner dome is about 200 feet away. That little red circle in the crown is a 34-foot diameter masterpiece, “Wisconsin Resources,” by Edwin Howland Blashfield.
Looking up from the Capitol’s first-floor rotunda, the symbolic center of the state, the inner dome is about 200 feet away. That little red circle in the crown is a 34-foot diameter masterpiece, “Wisconsin Resources,” by Edwin Howland Blashfield.
The Trumpeter's Balcony viewing area in the Capitol building offers visitors a breathtaking view of the Capitol rotunda from the fourth floor, which is 92 feet above the ground floor.
As you enter the rotunda on the ground floor, the first-floor balcony overhead acts as a sort of aperture, limiting your ability to take in the whole until you go up one more floor. But the view is still stunning, especially to first-time visitors. It's also the one place in the Capitol where it's socially acceptable to lie on the floor, as groups of children and adults have done for years as they gaze at the dome overhead.
Daniel Chester French, who carved the "Wisconsin," statue atop the Capitol building also created the seated figure of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
