THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE U.S. CAPITOL

For more than three decades, Presidents and architects strove to accommodate changing Congressional needs while completing the Capitol design Washington chose. The Capitol's Neoclassical architecture combined elements from ancient Greek and Roman traditions that the Founding Fathers associated with the new nation's democratic and republican political ideals. Separate wings for the House of Representatives and Senate were directly inspired by the Constitution's division of legislative responsibilities. The architecture and decoration of the Capitol extension (1851-65) was inspired by the Renaissance, judged at that time to be the high point of Western Civilization.