Do We Have Eyes to See?
“It was good talking with you, Jeremy. By the way, have you ever visited the State Capitol in Harrisburg?”
After inquiring by email about support for Poiema Visual Arts’ public ministry launch, Representative Brett Miller responded with a phone call. We chatted as I wandered through a local bookstore.
My memory quickly sped in rewind. I was sure that in Mrs. Blattenburger’s fourth grade class, I took a field trip to the Capitol but I honestly didn’t remember much. Somewhere, I still had our class photo but did that visit really qualify? “Umm, it's been several years.”
“Well then, I would like to invite you back as my guest. I think you would really appreciate taking a tour and seeing the art. Pennsylvania's Capitol is absolutely beautiful and contains world class artwork. The paintings, sculptures, design and craftsmanship are so impressive that it is referred to as a 'Palace of Art.' I think you would really enjoy it."
Just days before Christmas, this unique adventure became a realization. A majestic edifice emerged on the horizon as I approached the Capitol building by way of State Street. Created in the American Renaissance style, I was about to realize that the main building's 272-foot, 52 million-pound dome was only a taste of its opulent interior.
The Past
Today's capitol complex is built around Pennsylvania's third main Capitol structure. Following over 100 years of temporary housing, the General Assembly, having previously met in Philadelphia and Lancaster, chose to relocate to Harrisburg in 1812. The time had come for a permanent home to be established.
Stephen Hills, an English-born architect, constructed the Colonial or "Red Brick" Capitol from 1819 to 1822 for a total cost of $135,000. This building would welcome President Abraham Lincoln as a guest and merely 4-years later, grieve his passing as he lay in state. Regrettably, a fire would eventually destroy this building on February 2, 1897.
In 1898, while the General Assembly met at Grace Methodist Church, a new building was quickly erected based on the designs of an architect from Chicago, Henry Ives Cobb. They say, "Haste makes waste," and this seems accurate in the case of Pennsylvania's second Capitol building. At a cost of $550,000, the building was never completed and lacked the dignity deserving its function.
To solve this dilemma, a design competition was held in 1901. Philadelphia architect Joseph Houston was chosen to oversee the construction of Pennsylvania's third Capitol building. Utilizing the outer walls of Cobb's unsuccessful design, hopes were high that Houston's efforts would prove aesthetically pleasing and financially frugal. There is no doubt that he was successful in at least one of these objectives…
The Process
Houston's plan included the creation of "a magnificent structure with a rich program of fine and decorative arts" (Appendix of Charles H. Caffin's Handbook of the New Capitol of Pennsylvania, pg. 2). Reminiscent of his European travels, the Harrisburg Capitol would be a tribute to the American Renaissance. Houston designed the state capitol to be a "Palace of Art."
A synergy existed between artists of multiple disciplines; each doing their part to collectively, yet individually, tell the story of Pennsylvania's ideals. So integrated were their efforts that President Theodore Roosevelt would later pronounce it, “The handsomest building I ever saw.”
Notable artists, with ties to the state, were recruited to help create this masterpiece. To be fair, each one's journey deserves to be told in its own right. But due to space and scope, let me introduce you to a few of the most prominent.
Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911) - Abbey was a native Philadelphian who had achieved international acclaim. He developed under the artistic tutelage of Christian Schussele. His 1902 commission to paint the decoration of the Rotunda, House and Senate Chambers, and the Supreme/ Superior Court Room was the largest and most ambitious of his career. While he laid the foundation for the major themes depicted in the Capitol's artwork, his life was cut short before finishing his task. At the time of his death he had completed the Rotunda murals, the House Chamber, and one mural for the Senate that would later be relocated to the North wall of the House Chamber. The void he left would be entrusted to Violet Oakley.
Violet Oakley (1874-1961) - A celebrated student of Howard Pyle in Philadelphia (Pyle also instructed N.C. Wyeth among other prolific artists during the Golden Age of Illustration), Houston asked her to create the murals for the Governor's Reception Room in 1902. It was the largest public commission entrusted to a woman within the whole of the USA up to that date and won Oakley the Gold Medal of Honor from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. A few months after the death of Abbey, in April of 1912, Oakley was commissioned to complete his unfinished contract including the Senate Chamber and the Supreme Court. In all she painted 43 murals in the Capitol emphasizing peace, equal rights, and religious liberty.
William Van Ingen (1858-1955) - A native Philadelphian, Van Ingen excelled in both painting and stained glass. He was commissioned to use both skills in the Harrisburg Capitol. A former graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, he studied painting with Thomas Eakin. He was commissioned in 1902 to paint fourteen murals for the first floor South Corridor lunettes. (These are easy to miss but worth seeking out as they focus exclusively on the topic of religious liberty.) Having also studied under Louis C. Tiffany, Ingen was commissioned to create twenty-four stained glass windows spaced between the Senate and House Chambers.
George Grey Barnard (1863-1938) - Originally from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Barnard was commissioned to create two grand sculptures for the central portal, The Burden of Life or Broken Law & Love and Labor or The Unbroken Law. He indicated that the imagery used in the sculptures represented the fall of Adam & Eve, the despair of toil, and the hope of the future. In his words, “The subjects, [bearings as they do on man’s fulfilling or not fulfilling the Laws of God and nature] seemed to me peculiarly appropriate for the headquarters of a legislature.” Because he created in the style of his artist-hero, Barnard would become known as the Michelangelo of his time. The work he designed for the Harrisburg Capitol was created in France and installed under his supervision in 1911. Though his creations are included in collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, George Grey Barnard's dying wish was to be buried in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, near what he called his “finest work."
Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930) - Mercer, a lifelong resident of Doylestown, is responsible for the largest, albeit unexpected, single artwork within the Capitol. Though most of the collection reflects classical execution, Mercer's arts and craft tiles are a fitting tribute to the common working person; the backbone of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A small exhibit in the Senate Library indicates that Mercer convinced Houston that the Capitol, as a masterpiece of art, should include both “folk and fine” contributions. Having made his point, Mercer’s Moravian Tile Works was given the contract to adorn the walking surfaces of the main floor with flora, fauna and historic symbols pertaining to the state, thus creating the largest piece of art in the Capitol.
The Principle
As Representative Miller and I walked along, a recurring question continued to repeat itself. At first it was an expression of awe. Then it grew to rhetorical pondering. Eventually, it became a question begging for an answer: Do we have eyes to see?
Beside me, the Representative paused and then asked, “It’s right here surrounding us. Do we have eyes to see it?” He was referring to the message painted, sculpted, and inscribed within the masterpieces surrounding us. As a believer in Christ, his question met immediate recognition. It was a reference to Matthew 13:13-16:
“This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear” (NIV).
It's not uncommon in our culture for immediacy to trample the beauty of contemplation. Instantaneous recognition is prioritized over our ability to read a picture. But the issue of context adds an entirely new layer to perception.
There are an incredible number of Biblical references within the Capitol's interior design. As I looked around, I found myself encouraged and yet surprised. In a time when a single disagreement with a piece of public art is grounds for removal - regardless of invested skill, achieved beauty or individual redemption - here God has allowed imagery of Christian virtue to be preserved. To see and recognize the message preached with brush and chisel was like a visual worship experience! Yet, unlike a church, the art in the Capitol remains a witness in the public sector; surrounding law makers as the welfare of Pennsylvania’s people rests upon their shoulders. This art could (and should) be a source of encouragement and guidance; a reminder that mercy and justice need to be tethered to a higher standard.
In each space where laws are jointly voted upon, Scripture is clearly written for all to see. At the front of the room and on multiple surfaces in each chamber, God speaks. But is He heard? Do our eyes perceive?
The words of 1 Corinthians 3:10 are visible behind the Speaker of the Senate, “Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon” (KJV). In the front of the House, at the bottom of Edwin Austin Abbey’s mural, are the words of Deuteronomy 32:7, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father and he shall show thee, they elders, and they will tell thee" (KJV). What are our leaders being admonished to build upon? What are they to consider and ask about?
Perhaps we find the answer in the space belonging to the State Supreme Court. Nestled among multiple paintings by Violet Oakley, there is a mural hanging behind the bench. It shows Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God. This is not the only biblical painting in that room and it is not just an example of another lawmaker. Oakley visually emphasizes throughout her design that the law of man is subject to Divine law. The text below the image reads, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3, KJV). What do we need to build upon and give credence to in governing society? It is the instruction of Almighty God. At the dedication of Oakley’s mural, former United States Senator George Wharton Pepper observed, “When citizens coming into the open court perceive that they are really entering a sacred place it may be that they, too, will be dominated by the sense of order and will yield themselves to the spell which the artist’s genius is able to lay upon them."
The Prayer
It was an honor to explore the Harrisburg Capitol with a new friend; our bond in Christ allowing us to view the art through eyes of faith.
As we parted ways, I asked if I might linger a moment longer. Representative Miller quickly reassured me that permission was not necessary. Harrisburg’s “Palace of Art” is also a building of the people and while the art is carefully curated, it is there for all to see. So, the next time you are in town, stop in and tour this world-class collection! You can prearrange a free tour of the Capitol by scheduling online at www.pacapitol.com/book-a-tour/ or by calling the Tour Guide Office 1-800-TOUR-N-PA (868-7672).
View the space remembering to pray for our elected officials. Whether they are serving because of your endorsement or not, pray for them. It is God who has placed them in power for this season (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Pray that their eyes can see the beauty of His truth around them. Pray that their hearts will become subject to Him as followers of the truth.
As you wander the corridors, pray for eyes to see. Look intentionally for the truth embedded within the art and prepare your heart to worship. For as exquisite as these holdings are, they cannot capture the full range of God's goodness. Rather, ask God, as the Apostle Paul did in Ephesians 1:18-19, to enlighten the eyes of your heart:
“... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (ESV).
