The Minnesota State Capitol was important for Minnesota because the artists wanted to portray how much Minnesota or the Northwest’s has grown into a modern, westernized, and civilized society. The State Capitol was influenced by Beaux-Arts and Renaissance architecture in the time it was built. The artists wanted to give American buildings an ancient architectural design that is similar to Greek and Roman buildings. You can see Beaux-Art and Renaissance characteristics inside and outside of the building. There is the grand entrances and staircases, the large dome, painted ceilings, masonry floors and walls, arched windows and doorways, painted and sculptured mascarons in rooms, women and men that look like gods and goddesses, murals, life size figural sculptures, balustrades on the stairs, pilasters, and large columns that can weigh more than 800 tons. The Capitol would have modernized technology in heating, electricity, elevators, and more.
The walls, floors, and stairs are decorated with marble and stone in many colors of white, yellow, gray, blue, green, pinkish red, and dark red. Most of the walls are limestone. There are huge sets of columns that have different types of stones and marbles. Most of the stones are right from Minnesota. The marbles are mostly from Italy and all over the world.

Right in the middle of the marbled floor of the rotunda is a glass star framed of brass to represent the North Star and provide light to the basement. When you look up in the rotunda, you see a crystal chandelier right in the middle of the domed ceiling that is decorated in dark teal blue and gold. The architect wanted visitors to look up and see an enormously beautiful dome. Not too far under the dome are decorated with a series of four murals that depicts “The Civilization of the Northwest” painted by the artist Edward Simmons. All the panels were made in Paris, France on a seamless canvas and shipped to Minnesota. “The Civilization of the Northwest” panels are very colorful in green, blue, pink, and flesh tones. The colors compliment the dark teal blue and gold dome nicely. The four panels have a young man who represents the brave American Spirit. The artist chose the theme “The Civilization of the Northwest” to show how northwestern America started with hope and wisdom. By being able to get control of the American land, being able to utilize the earth’s minerals, and through agriculture the northwestern grew to power and wealth.

The paintings that are realism are in the governor’s reception room in the west corridor. One of the realism paintings are “The Battle of Nashville” painted by Howard Pyle. It is a painting of men in Minnesota in action at a battle in Nashville under the command of Colonel L.F. Hubbard. In the background, you see a hills covered with large clouds of smoke. Men are dressed in blue uniform and blue caps on their head lying very low on the dried yellow grass hill. You can see that there are still snow on the ground. Most of the men are holding guns in their hands. When you look at the painting you can see that Howard Pyle can really depict the emotions in the men’s facial features. You’ll see men shot at, wounded, and bleeding.

The paintings that are allegory are “The Contemplative Spirit of the East”, “Messrs. Garnsey and Willett’s Lunettes”, and “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” I chose the painting “The Contemplative Spirit” which is located in the eastern skylight where the Supreme Court Chamber is. This is the perfect place to put the symbolic painting since the Supreme Court is where the seven Justices in Minnesota come together to listen to cases about if the law could have violated a person’s right. The artist is Kenyon Cox. The painting has three women all sitting on yellow Kasota stone. The lady in the middle has wings and she represents “Thought” and is depicting her in deep thinking. The two ladies on either sides of “Thought” have their heads turned towards her and look like they are stressing her. The woman to the right is “Law” and she is holding in her hand a bridle. The woman the left is “Letters” and she is holding a book and on the book cover is a bridle.