Now that we are Virginia residents, I thought it was important to visit the Virginia State Capitol. My husband and I visited when we were first married.  At the time I had no idea what a Houdon was. Nevertheless, I found the statues, two in particular, to be quite stunning, in form and in background.  I told the kids about it after they got to meet Generals Washington and Lafayette at Colonial Williamsburg last summer. Ever since, they were interested in seeing the famed Houdons. 

     The day before I downloaded the Visitor's Guide, that contains lots of background information. The kids could not wait for the drive down, and were asking me lots of questions about what they would see before they went to bed.  I only gave them a glimpse into the next day.  On the drive down, I told them all about what the different statues artistically represented, the history of the building, etc.

   There are many statues on the grounds of various important figures in Virginia history.  Most notably is that of General Washington, surrounded by other Founding Fathers from Virginia.  Allegorical forms representing their contributions are in front of each of them. The most famous are Patrick Henry-Revolution, George Mason-Bill of Rights, Thomas Jefferson-Independence, Thomas Nelson-Finance, John Marshall-Justice.

The capitol building itself, was designed by Thomas Jefferson, after an ancient Roman temple in Nimes, France called the Maison Caree.

     Although I had been here before, I had forgotten how, um, small it was. The kids toured the state capitol of Texas a few years ago and they remembered that comparitively, the Texas State Capitol is huge. Since the Texas capitol is huge and the grounds are massive, I figured that Texas has a lot of Congressmen.  I decided to do a little research.  Texas has 31 State Senators, whereas Virginia has 40 State Senators.   Texas has 150 State Representatives, while Virginia has 100 State Representatives.  I was surprised at how close the numbers are.  

     Our tour started in the new extension, which is partly a museum. The primary exhibit is "Beyond Jamestown."  We got to see actual wampum in this display of native dress.  I was excited to see that the clothing was close to what I made for our Native American costumes a few years ago when my daughter and I represented Powhatten's tribe. 

     We got to visit the original rooms for the Senate and House of Delegates. There was beautiful architecture, historically meaningful paintings and statues, and great stories.  Guess who I found in the General Assembly? None other than Sam Houston.  General Sam Houston won the war for Texas Independence by capturing Santa Anna.  He became the first president of the newly formed Republic of Texas. When Texas entered the Union, he was the first Governor of Texas.  Why is his bust in the Virginia capitol?  He was born in Virginia!

      We got to go to the actual room where the General Assembly meets today.

The architecture is stunning and was recently restored.

      While we were in here, the tour guide explained the job of pages, who run errands for the congressmen.  Since my son was the only one there who fit the requirements to be a page, she told him that he need only apply for the job and he could get paid to be a page.  One must be 13 or 14 years of age and be a resident of Virginia. That bit of information left me speechless.  My son wants to be president someday, though I don't know that I'm wild about that prospect. Being a page could cure him from politics. Or it could fire him up to reform it, which is his intent. (He can have quite the Patrick Henry personality.)     

     The Virginia State Capitol does have a rotunda, although it can only be seen from the inside.

     Underneath the rotunda is the Houdon of George Washington.  This statue was designed by Houdon, who knew his history!  It tells the story of the American Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a Roman citizen who led his country to victory in time of war, then refused leadership, going back to the plow. Washington wears his uniform, but his hat is off, representing his military power was temporary.  To further represent his time in the military is an American sword and Roman fasces. That is the bundle of rods next to him.  In portrayal of his return to the life of a citizen, is the American walking cane in his hand, and the plow behind him.  The visitor's guide says that his expression is "fatherly".  Upon whom does he look? None other than his adoptive son, Lafayette.

      The Virginia General Assembly commissioned that a marble statue of General Washington be made, as well as a marble bust of the Marquis de Lafayette. In appreciation for all the Lafayette did for the Commonwealth of Virginia during the American Revolution, he was made an honorary citizen. Upon Thomas Jefferson's recommendation, the French artist Jean-Antoine Houdon won the commission.  He made life masks to make the faces as true to life as possible. (There is a great film of the process of this at Mount Vernon.)   The tour guide told us when Lafayette made his Grand Tour of America in 1824, he stood in the capitol, looking upon the statue of General Washington, his adoptive father.  With tears streaming down his face, he said, "That is the man."  All of Washington's contemporaries agreed that this statue was a perfect likeness to the Father of our Country.

     There are other busts in different niches in the room.  They are of the seven presidents of our country, who were born in Virginia.  The tour guide said the niche Lafayette was in was reserved for the 8th president from Virginia. My son had been asking which state he would claim, if he became president. The tour guide said Texas, since he was born there.  I think my son was quite relieved, because he did not want to knock Lafayette from his niche.  I asked the tour guide what would happen to Lafayette if there is an 8th president from Virginia. She said he used to be on a pedestal and he would return to his pedestal. We laughed, because the "Lafayette" in Colonial Williamsburg always tells us that his friends say that he is a statue in search of a pedestal.