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 1 ,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 
a The 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. 
