46 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



varying thickness of masonry due to the perpendicular inside face 

 of the wall, is presented, and upon this the drum masonry bears. 



Immediately above the great arches and the pendentives is a 

 plaster entablature, 9 feet 11| inches high, followed by a Guas- 

 tavino tile dome ceiling which is described farther on. The entab- 

 lature comprises a plain molded architrave 2 feet lOf inches high, 

 a frieze decorated with triglyphs and shields in the metopes, 3 feet 

 5| inches high, and a cornice ornamented with dentils and eggs 

 and darts, 3 feet 7i inches high and projecting 2 feet 8^ inches beyond 

 the lower face of the architrave, on which face the inside diameter 

 of the rotunda is approximately 71 feet. 



A variety of material is represented in the interior finish of the 

 pavilion and rotunda. The floors, wall bases, plinths and column 

 shafts are of marble of several kinds. Nearly all other stone work 

 is of light gray Bedford, Indiana, limestone with a fine rubbed sur- 

 face, comprising the inner faces and sides of the piers and a slight 

 return on the back, the paneled jambs of piercings through the piers, 

 the large arches springing from the piers, and the stone work of the 

 semicircular windows and of the screens between and surmounting 

 the tiers of columns. Other than the above essentially all surfaces 

 below the tiled dome ceiling are finished with lime plaster, except the 

 door architraves, jambs and heads, which are of Keene's cement. The 

 plaster and cement surfaces of both walls and ceilings are painted an 

 ivory tint which harmonizes with the color of the limestone. 



The piers, the backing or core of which, constituting the structural 

 element, is of hard-burned red brick, have a molded base 7 feet 9| 

 inches high and are capped with a 9-foot entablature. The top of 

 the denticulated and bracketed cornice of this entablature is 2 feet 

 7^ inches above the fourth story level, and following it is a pedestal 

 band 3 feet 5^ inches high, from which spring the four arches enter- 

 ing into the dome construction. Although the arches are of greater 

 span than the width in the clear between the piers, the latter are so 

 designed that the arch is a continuation of the sharply defined break 

 made necessary by the paralleling of the sides to the common axis. 

 This architectural effect is maintained throughout the entire height 

 of the piers, the base, entablature and pedestal returning into the 

 sides against a small projection from the main part of the piers, 1 

 foot 9 inches deep by 3 feet 5^ inches wide, which terminates at the 

 top with two inverted consoles occupying the space in front of the 

 pedestal band. These projections are on the screen side of the bear- 

 ings of the arches, and the combined depth of two of them occurring 

 on each longer side of the rotujnda, namely, 3 feet 6 inches, is the dif- 

 ference between the width of each screen space and the span of the 

 arches. The stone courses of the piers necessarily vary so as to carry 



