50 THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART 



in the form of a T, 125 feet long; two lecture rooms, one of which 

 is capable of containing from 800 to i ,000 persons, and the other 

 is connected with the chemical laboratory; a committee room 

 for the Board of Regents; a Secretary's room; a room for the 

 effects of Mr. Smithson; a janitor's room, etc." 



On January 28, 1847, the Board passed several resolutions 

 regarding the construction of the building, among which were 

 the following : 



"That the Norman plan of a building for the Smithsonian 

 Institution, furnished by James Renwick, jr., of New York, sub- 

 stantially as amended and reduced agreeably to the suggestions 

 of the committee, is approved by this Board." 



"That the building committee be instructed to arrange the 

 contracts for the buildings of the institution so that the wings 

 of said buildings may be completed in two years from the 

 present time, and the whole completed in five years." 



"That the building committee be instructed, in the arrange- 

 ment of the building, to extend the gallery of art throughout 

 the western range and western wing; and to arrange two lecture 

 rooms, and no more, in the building. Temporary arrangements 

 shall be made to receive in the west wing of the building the 

 library of the institution until the library proper be completed." 



A full account of the plans and construction of the Smith- 

 sonian building, and of subsequent alterations was given in the 

 report of the National Museum for 1903.'' The two rooms 

 above mentioned as being assigned to the gallery of art com- 

 prised the entire west wing. The larger of these rooms, the 

 more western one, often called the chapel, because of its archi- 

 tectural features, has a high groined ceiling and measures, not 

 including the apse, 66 feet 7 inches long by 34 feet 9 inches wide 

 and 37 feet 8 inches in greatest height. The other, a connect- 

 ing range, between the west hall and the main building, is 60 

 feet by 37 feet. These halls, completed in 1852, were, however, 

 never entirely used for art, as explained farther on. The library, 

 in accordance with the resolution of the Regents already quoted, 

 was temporarily installed in the former, where it remained 



oThe United States National Museum: An Account of the Buildings 

 occupied by the National Collections. By Richard Rathbun. Report, 

 U. S. National Museum for 1903, pp. 177-309, plates 1-29. 



