House and Garden 
death of Warren at Bunker Hill, General Washington 
rebuking General Lee at the battle of Monmouth, 
and Alexander Hamilton storming the redoubt at 
Yorktown. The medallion shows a conflict between 
a Hessian soldier and a farmer. The panels on the 
south leaf show the laying of the corner-stone of 
the Capitol by Washington, Washington taking the 
oath of office, and Washington passing through New 
jersey on his way to be inaugurated President. 
The medallion represents peace and agriculture. 
These doors weigh 14,000 pounds and cost $56,- 
405.11, of which amount the sculptor, Crawford, 
received $6,000. 
The scenes depicted upon the doors of the south 
BRONZE DOOR AT ENTRANCE TO HALL OF 
REPRESENTATIVES 
wing (Hall of Representatives) are important events 
in the Indian and Revolutionary wars and civil 
events in the nation’s history. 
The doors to the west portico entrance were never 
made in accordance with the original idea and were 
constructed of plain wood without any artistic or 
historical design; but now they are to give place to 
bronze designed by Louis Amateis, a Washington 
sculptor. These doors will be nearly eight feet in 
width and more than thirteen feet in height. They 
will show the intellectual and physical progress of the 
American republic. 
On the transom panel will be shown the figure of 
America seated upon a chariot drawn by lions, indica¬ 
tive of the strength of the Republic, while the beasts 
of the forest are led by a child, indicating the better 
policy of intellect and gentleness to that of brute 
force. To the sides of the chariot will be figures 
emblematic of learning, literature, painting, music, 
sculpture, architecture, agriculture, mining and com¬ 
merce. 
There will be four panels on each half of the door, 
and on the four panels of one side jurisprudence, 
science, the fine arts, and mining will be represented, 
while on the panels of the other side agriculture, 
engineering, naval architecture, electricity, iron and 
commerce will be depicted in the highest art. 
The jurisprudence panel will represent a meeting 
of the first Supreme Court of the United States. 
The science panel will show a group of the 
world’s foremost scientific workers from the first 
astronomer, Hipparchus, on down to Darwin. 
The fine arts will be left to such celebrities as 
Homer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Hugo and Beethoven. 
The agricultural panel will show a harvest scene, 
while the mining panel will cleverly portray that 
phase of the country’s development. 
Figures of men shown as actually engaged in con¬ 
structing a railroad will represent the panel on 
engineering, while the iron and electricity panel will 
be made lifelike by workers in iron foundries and 
electric plants. Naval architecture and commerce 
will be made to go hand-in-hand and are to be de¬ 
picted by a sailor holding a flag with a liberty cap on 
top, a boy studying a globe of the world, and by 
several other symbolic figures. 
The several panels are to be surrounded by stat¬ 
uettes and medallions of the foremost Americans in 
the professions and arts. The committee who ap¬ 
proved the design before the contract for the door 
was let consisted of Daniel C. French, Thomas 
Hastings, and Waddy B. Wood, architects, and 
Charles E. Neihaus and A. Picirrilli, sculptors. 
Like the doors built nearly half a century ago, the west 
rotunda door will be a masterpiece and will perfectly 
portray the development of the comparatively new 
Republic. It is destined to attract the attention of 
all lovers of art who visit the Capitol building. 
172 
