Tennessee State Capitol
Part 1. The Architecture and Sculpture of the State Capitol
The Tennessee State Capitol is located in Nashville Tennessee near the center of the state known as Middle Tennessee. It borders Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The state stretches from east to west from the Blue Ridge Mountains across the Cumberland Plateau to the Mississippi River. The state is formally divided into three Grand Divisions known as East, Middle, and West Tennessee based primarily on geography, and denoted by the three stars in its flag. The terrain in these divisions transition from wooded mountain lands in East Tennessee, to rolling foothills in Middle Tennessee, to flat river delta farmlands in West Tennessee from the Tennessee River to the Mississippi River. In 1796, Tennessee became the 16th state admitted to the Union.
The state capitol in Nashville was built from 1845 to 1859 in a Greek Revival architectural style by the architect William Strickland. The design is modeled after a Greek Ionic temple, and the lantern cupola on top is based on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates in Athens Greece.
The capitol was constructed of load bearing limestone block walls inside and out, with limestone columns, and structural wrought iron roof trusses. The limestone was quarried locally by slaves and convict labor, and used massive wooden derricks to set the stones in place.
William Strickland, 1788 to 1854, was born in Navesink New Jersey, and trained under his father, a master carpenter, and then as an apprentice architect in Philadelphia under the architect Benjamin Henry LaTrobe who was the Architect of the Capitol in Washington DC. Strickland became an accomplished artist, architect, designer, and civil engineer in Philadelphia. His architectural designs focused primarily on the Greek Revival style for many notable buildings, which late in his career attracted the attention of the Tennessee legislature.
William Strickland died in 1854, and his work on the capitol was taken over by his son, Francis Strickland, and later by Harvey Ackroyd. At his request, he is buried within the walls of the north entrance, in a tomb of his own design. Today he is credited with being one of the leading architects to help establish the Greek Revival style as the National Style for many government buildings.
There are four levels to the building that have carried different names over time. The bottom level was referred to as the Crypt, but today it is the Ground Floor, and has four openings on the north end and one opening on the south end.
The original Crypt opened to the north only and was used as an armory and storage for fuel. Today the four openings are air intake grilles for the mechanical system and the remaining space has been renovated for state offices. The south entrance to the Ground Floor is a tunnel added in the 1950s to provide access from the Legislative Plaza and the downtown area into the Ground Floor and the elevators inside the capitol. The tunnel has a nice collection of architectural drawings done in 1951 for the Historic American Building Survey, along with several historical photographs of the Capitol.
Above the Ground Floor was the Basement, which is called the First Floor today, and forms the base of the building. There are seven openings under the Portico and Pediment at the north and south ends supporting eight Ionic columns, and five openings on the east and west sides supporting six Ionic columns. The columns are two stories high and form the Second Floor House and Senate Chambers and the Public Galleries above.
At the center of the building, above the Rotunda, is a lantern cupola with eight Corinthian columns framing the windows in each directions. Strickland proposed the lantern cupola instead of a dome because ancient Greek architecture did not use domes, as that was a Roman architectural development. The Greeks and Romans both helped develop the representative democracies we have today so either approach is appropriate and common for our capitols.
The capitol was completed in 1859, the year before the start of the Civil War, so the grounds were not completed until the late 1800s. During the War, the capitol was used as a fortress by Confederate soldiers, and later by Union soldiers, as is evidenced by these wartime photographs. These images from 1864 show the plaza above the Crypt with cannons in place around the perimeter.
Notice in the images above that there are three full size figures standing around each lamppost. These are allegorical sculptures representing Morning, Noon, and Night by Wood and Perrot, which were likely lost during the Civil War.
In this image from about 1863, soldiers are camped out in tents on the hill surrounding the capitol, where the capitol and cupola acted as a watch tower of protection in every directions.
Interior Architecture
The interior uses beautifully finished limestone and marble for the walls, columns, and floors, with numerous details in stairs and railings made of cast iron. The marble was quarried locally, from Rogersville, and Knoxville. The columns inside display the Doric order on the first floor, and the Ionic order on the second floor including the galleries above.
First Floor
The First Floor includes the Visitors Entrance on the West side of the Capitol, and a Visitors Desk near the east entrance where you can arrange for tours or take a self guided tour.
There are active state offices on this floor including the Governor’s Office, and a Supreme Court Chamber which has been restored to its original design, but is used only for special events.
The ceilings throughout the First Floor corridors have Frescos by Theo Knoch and John Schleicher, immigrant artists from Germany. These include the American Eagle with 31 stars for the number of states at that time; allegorical figures representing Justice,
and Liberty; and the State Seal representing Agriculture and Commerce. The Roman Numeral on the seal represents Tennessee being the 16th state to join the United States.
Governor’s Office
The Governor’s Office entrance leads to a reception room that includes beautiful murals depicting early life in Tennessee.
The murals were completed by the artist Jirayr H Zorthian in 1938. Shown here are half the murals in the reception room, as the other half was occupied by officials and could not be photographed. The scenes depict Nashville and life in the surrounding areas, and the enlarged scene from the first panel includes a seated figure that is a self portrait of the artist Jirayr Zorthian.
Jirayr Hamparzoom Zorthian, 1911 to 2004, was born in Armenia and immigrated to the United States in 1923. He studied at Yale University and in Italy, and in 1938 painted 11 murals for the Tennessee State Capitol.
Supreme Court Chamber
The Supreme Court Chamber was restored in the 1980s based on an early painting of the room and from documentation found on the original finishes and fixtures. The Supreme Court used this room until 1937 when a new building was completed for their functions.
Second Floor
The Second Floor opens up to a beautiful Rotunda, with grand hallways to the Senate Chamber, State Library, and House Chamber.
The Rotunda extends up into the cupola above, reflecting its form over the center of the building, with walls of limestone and marble from Tennessee quarries.
It features frescoes by Theo Knoch and John Schleicher, and elaborately decorative lighting by Cornelius and Baker. The stairs from the first floor feature decorative cast iron railings by Wood and Perot of Philadelphia.
Senate Chamber
The Senate Chamber provides desks for 33 senators, and a gallery above for public viewing. The Gallery is supported by a colonnade of Tennessee marble columns of Ionic design.
The lighting is by Cornelius and Baker and features elaborate decorative details, displaying corn stalks, elk heads, cotton blossoms, and tobacco leaves, which were some of the main products produced in Tennessee at that time.
State Library
Across from the Senate Chamber is the State Library, which has moved to another building, but is used today as a Legislative lounge and meeting space. It was closed on all my previous visits, but I finally caught it open on this tour in July 2024.
Strickland had provided space for a State Library but the design was not completed. So the library was designed later by H M Ackroyd from New York, a few years after the building was completed. The room has been beautifully restored to its original design. Along the top most balcony rail their are portrait medallions of famous writers and politicians by Wood and Perot, that in the 1800s could be selected from a catalog and included in the railing design.
The ceiling is another beautifully detailed work by Theo Knoch and John Schleicher. Their are eight portraits total on the ceiling, which includes these four. Clockwise from the upper left: William Hickling Prescott, 1796 to 1859, an American historian; James Kent, 1763 to 1847, father of American jurisprudence; Dr. James Priestly, early 1800s, geologist and president of Cumberland University; and Matthew Fontaine Maury, 1806 to 1873, father of oceanography. In addition, there are several portraits in the room, and this bust of Sequoya, by sculptor Griffin Chiles, 1994.
Sequoyah, late 1700s to 1843, also known as George Gist, developed a written language for the Cherokee Nation, using 85 characters, each representing syllables of their spoken language. This was their first form of written communication, which was used widely by 1823.
Amadine Griffin Chiles, 1925 to 2009, was born in Louisville Kentucky and studied at the University of Louisville, and in New York and France. She began her career as a newspaper fashion illustrator, and soon mastered water color, pastels, oil, and acrylic paintings. During the latter part of her career she focused on bronze sculptures with Native American themes.
House of Representatives Chamber
The House Chamber provides desks for 99 state representatives, plus seating in the galleries for public viewing. The upper gallery roof is supported by 8 Ionic columns on each side representing Tennessee as the 16th state.
There are four large chandeliers similar to those seen in the Senate Chamber, Supreme Court Chamber, and the Rotunda. These lights were known as gasoliers, which were designed and built by Cornelius and Baker of Philadelphia. They were originally installed as gas lighting, but converted to electricity around 1895.
The four gasoliers in the House Chamber are not original to the construction. The original fixture was one large unit in the center of the chamber. It was removed and replaced with the four fixtures a few years after installation because it tended to sway in the breeze when the windows were opened.
Sculpture in the Capitol
There are many niches in the walls on the First and Second Floors designed for sculptures of historical figures. Those on display included the following.
John Sevier, 1745 to 1815, was born in Colonial Virginia and became Tennessee’s first Governor. He played a major role in the pre-statehood era involving conflicts with both British colonial rule and conflicts with the Cherokee Native Americans. His bust was sculpted by Jim Gray in 1980.
Andrew Johnson, 1808 to 1875, served as Governor from Tennessee, and then Vice President with Abraham Lincoln. He became the 17th President of the United States serving from 1865 to 1869 following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His bust was also sculpted by Jim Gray in 1979.
Jim Gray, 1932 to 2019, was born in Middleton Tennessee and became an accomplished self taught artist and sculptor, noted for his many paintings still available at the Jim Gray studio in Gatlinburg Tennessee.
Andrew Jackson, 1767 to 1845, served as Representative and Senator from Tennessee, and later elected the 7th President of the United States. His bust was sculpted by Gifford Proctor in 1961.
James Knox Polk, 1795 to 1849, served as a Congressman and Governor representing Tennessee, and later elected the 11th President of the United States. His bust was also sculpted by Gifford Proctor in 1961.
Gifford MacGregor Proctor, 1912 to 2006, was born in New York City and studied under his father, the sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor, and at Yale and the American Academy in Rome.
Alfred Alexander Taylor, 1848 to 1931, served as a Congressman and Governor for Tennessee. His bust was sculpted by Mary Hooper Donelson in 1935.
Robert Love Taylor, 1850 to 1912, served as a Congressman, Governor, and Senator representing Tennessee. His bust was also sculpted by Mary Hooper Donelson in 1935.
Mary Hooper Donelson, 1906 to 2000, was born in Nashville Tennessee and studied at Vanderbilt University, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
David Crockett, 1786 to 1836, was a frontiersman and folk hero from Tennessee. He served as a militiaman, statesman, and Congressman representing the state. His bust was sculpted by Antonio Mendez in 2016.
Antonio Tobias Mendez, born in 1963, was born in Colorado and studied sculpture at Goucher College, the Art Institute of Chicago, and in Madrid Spain, and at the John Chambers Studios in California. His studio is in Knoxville Maryland.
Joseph Cordell Carr Sr, 1907 to 1981, was a Democratic Party politician and served as the Tennessee Secretary of State for about 20 years. The sculptor for his bust is not identified.
George Washington, 1732 to 1799, was commander of the Continental Army leading to victory in the Revolutionary War, and first President of the United States. This bust is a replica, but the original was sculpted by the Jean Antonine Houdon.
Jean Antoine Houdon, 1741 to 1828, was born in Versailles France and studied at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, and the École Royale des Élèves Protégés. His sculptures of George Washington were made in about 1785 from live models and masks at Benjamin Franklin’s Mount Vernon estate.
A second bust of Andrew Jackson is on display by another artist that is not identified.
Sampson W Keeble, 1833 to 1887, was born into slavery and became one of fourteen African Americans elected to the Tennessee State legislature between 1873 and 1898. His bust is by a sculptor that is not identified. The base of the sculpture displays the names of all African Americans that served Tennessee during reconstruction after the Civil War.
Cordell Hull, 1871 to 1995, served in the Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, and became a Circuit Judge, member of the State Legislature, and Secretary of State under Franklin D Roosevelt. The sculptor for his bust is not identified.
19th Amendment Woman Suffrage, celebrates the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote in 1968. It is a relief sculpted by Alan LeQuire in 1997.
Alan LeQuire, born 1955, is from Nashville Tennessee and studied at Vanderbilt University, Middle Tennessee State University, in France and Italy, and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
14th and 15th Amendments, African American Citizenship and Male Suffrage, celebrates these Amendments to the Constitution that gave African American males both citizenship and the right to vote. The relief was sculpted by Jin Huang Powell in 2000.
Jin Huang Powell studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing China. In 1993 she moved to the United States and studied at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute, and the Memphis College of Art.
The Tennessee State Capitol is a beautiful work of art and architecture filled with Tennessee and early American history, and well worth a visit. Please check out Part 2 on the Sculpture and Architecture on Tennessee’s Capitol Hill.
Travel Notes
Nashville Tennessee is an easy 2 hours drive north, and is actually the closest capitol to my home in Huntsville Alabama. There is a new Tesla Supercharger station in Cornersville Tennessee, which I checked out on my way back. Its called the Tennessean Travel Stop, and includes an Exxon station and 24 supercharger stations.
So, you have probably seen my 2018 Tesla Model 3, and even a Model S loaner on other adventures, but this is my first outing with my Tesla Cybertruck. It made for an easy and very comfortable ride, and it was good to find a new charging station using a gas station layout at the Tennessean Travel Stop, that can accommodate trucks with trailers, or bike racks on the tail hitch. I have only seen this layout at one other location, but hopefully this will become the norm with more trucks hitting the road.
Notes and References
Story and photographs by David Smitherman, with data collected from onsite inscriptions and brochures, Wikipedia, and Google Maps. Site visits were made in October 2019, June 2021, and June and July 2024.
Temples of Democracy by Henry Russell Hitchcock and William Seale, 1976.
Fifty State Capitols: The Architecture of Representative Government, by Jim Stembridge.
American Society of Civil Engineers. https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/tennessee-state-capitol
Gifford MacGregor Proctor, sculptor. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/gifford-macgregor-proctor-3890
Antonio Tobias Mendez studio. https://www.tobymendezstudios.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=37429&AKey=7C569C3T
State Library. https://sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_img/public/images/CapitolBook-Pgs109-110.png
Jin Huang Powell. https://shivagallery.org/jin-huang-powell/
Amadine Griffin Chiles. https://cnu.libguides.com/chiles and https://click.artcld.com/artist/griffindeceased?sub=6c716a32-e0f7-41d0-a805-0c0e6548514a.