Capital fragment from a column capital on Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda portico, 1826
Capital fragment from a column capital on Thomas Jefferson’s Rotunda portico, 1826 Stone U.Va. Special Collections
Sometimes small fragments are the only tangible remains from buildings of the past. These artifacts represent different phases in the Rotunda’s history. The stone acanthus leaf from the portico of the original Jefferson Rotunda broke off during the great fire of 1895 and has been preserved in Special Collections. The fragment of a cast-iron interior column capital from Robert Mills’s Annex was discarded after the fire and remained buried in a rubble heap, discovered during the recent expansion of Rouss Hall. The plaster capital fragment and rosette from Stanford White’s interpretation of the library indicates that White’s interiors were vastly more ornamental than Mills’s. These pieces, and the rest of the Stanford White reading room, were removed in the 1970s restoration of the Rotunda.
Capital fragment from an interior in Robert Mills’s Rotunda Annex, 1853
Capital fragment from an interior in Robert Mills’s Rotunda Annex, 1853 Cast iron On loan from the Office of the Architect for the University of Virginia
Capital fragment from Stanford White’s Rotunda reading room, 1897
Capital fragment from Stanford White’s Rotunda reading room, 1897 Plaster On loan from the Office of the Architect for the University of Virginia
Rosette from a capital in Stanford White’s Rotunda reading room, 1897
Rosette from a capital in Stanford White’s Rotunda reading room, 1897 Plaster U.Va. Special Collections