![]() ![]() ![]() Strangely absent were the bronze statues of Perry Mason and Ben Matlock as representative of Law, but I held my peace and moved on.īefore leaving I ducked inside the walk-in card catalog. Below and between these figures are 16 bronze statues of various historical personalities which exemplify these virtues Michelangelo and Beethoven are associated with Art while Moses and Saint Paul are identified with Religion, etc. Each figure is symbolic of a specific virtue of Western thought: Religion, Commerce, History, Art, Philosophy, Poetry, Law and Science. Just below the dome are eight allegorical plaster figures supported by great marble columns. There’s lots of statuary in the reading room. All you have to do is fill out a request card and hand it to them. The hunt is work for your trusty librarian. You don't have to worry about getting up and searching for them yourself, however - that might take all day. The ones you can see in the reading room are just a minuscule fraction of the library's total holdings. Neatly organized in every alcove and piled high all around you. I grabbed a bookmark from one of them and continued to wander. In and amongst the desks, librarians were circulating about, explaining how visitors can access the library’s resources at any time and the process by which people come to the Library of Congress to conduct research. Their lights give the room’s cavernous interior a warm glow. She’s flanked by 12 seated figures which represent the 12 countries & eras which have contributed to the intellectual advancement of Western Society (Greece is philosophy, Spain discovery, England literature etc.).Īfter pulling your eyes down from the ceiling you look at the lamplit, researcher desks which ring the floor area. The painting at the apex depicts a female figure (Human Understanding) lifting the veil of ignorance from man. Upon entering, the first thing you’re struck by is the great domed ceiling overhead. It’s the difference between watching a game on TV and actually being inside the stadium. I’d even gotten to see the main reading room from the year-round viewing platform on the second story, but I’d never actually been inside the space. I’ve been to the Library of Congress a number of times and conducted research there. The main reading room is only open like this twice a year and you can take all the photographs you want - with flash.” Goodie. As I shuffled toward the chamber, a library volunteer kept telling us, “This is a special day. There was a bit of a wait, but nothing too daunting. I parked behind the Folger Shakespeare Library and walked the two blocks to the entrance of the Library of Congress (there are a lot of books in this neighborhood), entering at ground level and making my way upstairs to the grand foyer before queuing up for the reading room. It was a gray and drizzly day in the nation’s capital. ![]()
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