Experience the Wonders
And few places in Washington, if any, can match the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress for sheer beauty and inspiration.
The Jefferson opened in 1897 as the Library’s first stand-alone building, the largest library building in the world.
It was, of course, much more than that. Its dazzling decoration and soaring architecture made it a source of national pride, and its program of sculpture and painting made it a monument to civilization, imagination and knowledge.
Today, the Jefferson Building is not just the beating heart of the Library and an incredible resource for scholars and researchers, it is an eye-opening source of inspiration for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who walk through its doors each year.
Over the following pages, members of the Library’s Visitor Engagement Office recommend favorite things for visitors to see and do in one of Washington’s grandest spaces, the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.
Main Reading Room
Massive, multicolored marble piers and columns support a soaring, coffered dome. Scores of arches — some leading to book-filled alcoves — add visual interest and intrigue: What wonders lie beyond those curved marble entrances?
On the mezzanine above, bronze statues of great historical figures — Homer, Plato, Michelangelo, Shakespeare and a dozen others — watch visitors, researchers and librarians come and go below.
Crane your neck and look into the apex of the dome. A beautiful, painted female figure looks back — the central character of Edwin Howland Blashfield’s mural, “Human Understanding.”
The Main Reading Room overlook (accessed from the Great Hall mezzanine) offers a different perspective of the space, no less inspiring.
From above, you see researchers quietly working at their desks, arranged in ever-widening circles around the great central desk where librarians go about their duties. Lamps cast a warm glow on the marble walls and the wood of the work spaces.
Visitors are permitted to tour the Main Reading Room at certain times during the week (see How to Visit) — an experience not to be missed.
Main Reading Room Statues
Atop each of the eight marble columns surrounding the room stands a 10-foot allegorical figure representing an area of thought: religion, commerce, history, art, philosophy, poetry, law and science.
These allegorical figures don symbolic clothing and props to communicate their discipline: The history figure holds a book and a mirror facing backward to reflect the past; science holds a globe and a mirror facing forward to reflect progress.
Each figure is flanked by bronze statues (16 in total) representing major contributors to that field. Beethoven, for example, stands on one side of art and Michelangelo on the other.
Together, these symbolic and representative statues convey an 1897 perspective on global contributions to eight core disciplines of knowledge.
Sports murals
Sports murals
On the north and south corridor ceilings of the second floor, you can find a series of small murals featuring sporting events. The north corridor depicts six scenes, such as discus throwing, wrestling, running and victory. The south corridor features the modern sports of baseball and American football.
Artist Frederic C. Martin painted these blue-toned, rectangular panels depicting both ancient and modern sports in the style of the ancient Greek Olympics, which of course were played in the nude.
‘Evolution of the Book’
The series begins on the south end with “The Cairn,” depicting an ancient civilization building a ceremonial mound to commemorate its dead or mark an important location. “Oral Tradition” and “Egyptian Hieroglyphics” follow, portraying early storytelling in two forms. In “Oral Tradition,” a storyteller speaks to a crowd; in “Egyptian Hieroglyphics,” two figures chisel written words into a building exterior.
The north side of the Great Hall houses “Picture Writing,” which shows Native Americans drawing on animal hides that could be easily transported and traded. Finally, “Manuscript Book” and “Printing Press” work in tandem to portray how Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized book production with the creation of metal movable type.
‘Evolution of the Book’
Minerva mosaic
She is at peace: Her spear points to the ground, and her helmet and shield lie at her feet.
If there’s peace, learning can advance. In her left hand, Minerva holds a scroll that lists fields of study important to civilization. The scroll is not fully unfurled, suggesting that we always are adding new fields of study to what we consider important.
Just behind sits Minerva’s owl. We all know the owl to be a symbol of wisdom. I like to think this is because an owl can turn its head 270 degrees. It is constantly learning new pieces of information, adding them to its fund of knowledge and changing its mind when called for — this is what makes it wise.
Stained-glass ceiling
Surrounding the glass, you see metallic leaf. Often mistaken for silver, this is actually aluminum. During the construction of the Jefferson Building, aluminum was rare because of the electricity required to produce it, making it one of the most valuable metals in the world.
Adding to the opulence of the Jefferson Building, aluminum leaf was used alongside gold leaf to accent the Great Hall artwork.
Thomas Jefferson’s Library
British troops burned the Capitol Building in 1814, destroying the Library of Congress and all of its holdings. The following year, Congress purchased 6,487 books from Jefferson for $23,950 to help rebuild the Library’s collections.
A devastating fire destroyed two-thirds of those books in 1851. But the remaining volumes are on permanent display today in the building named after Jefferson, allowing visitors to see what is considered the core foundation of the Library’s modern-day collections.
As you go around the circular room, be sure to note some of Jefferson’s interests in literature, including books on beekeeping and winemaking!
‘Touch History’ tours
In the Great Hall, tactile learning opportunities abound: incised brass sun and zodiac symbols embedded in the floor, smooth busts of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, wall-mounted brass faces reminiscent of Medusa. The sleek Carrara marble walls and columns, interrupted by raised, decorative moldings, offer a contrast of surfaces.
Most captivating are the marble putti — sculpted chubby little boy figures cascading down both balustrades of the grand staircases. These 16 figures represent professions and pursuits known when the building opened in 1897.
Two putti are within arm’s reach: The gardener, equipped with a hoe and rake, and the mechanic, holding a long-necked oil can and cogwheel. While only their toes and adjacent storks are within easy reach, docents provide detailed descriptions of their size, posture, attire and expressions, enriching the tactile experience.