Barbara A. Wolanin didn’t leave her TV much on Wednesday afternoon, watching in terror, she said, as hundreds of Trump protesters rushed to the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building, where eight large framed historic paintings hang.
She has previously curated the Architect of the Capitol, the office that preserves and maintains the building’s art and architecture. She knew much better than most of the horrible possibilities that presented themselves.
What if rioters cut John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence”, one of the great paintings of the early 1800s that depicts the Americans’ struggle for freedom? Or did it break the bronze bust of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
“All of Capitol’s art is basically in sight,” said Dr. Wolanin, 77, who served as a curator for the Architect of the Capitol from 1985 until her retirement in 2015. “There aren’t many things hidden. “
For almost four hours, the collection she spent more than 30 years taking care of was at the mercy of a crowd that invaded rooms on the south side of the Capitol (including Mayor Pancy’s office), smashed windows and then marched through the National Statuary Hall, waving American, Confederate and “Trump Is My President” flags.
The time they spent in the building is now represented by the damage they left behind. A 19th century marble bust of former President Zachary Taylor was stained with what appeared to be blood. A frame was left on the floor, the image disappeared.
The photos and videos, some of them taken by the rebels themselves, were surprising. One man stuffed a framed photo of the Dalai Lama in his backpack, while another smoked marijuana in a room with Oregon maps on the wall. A man in a leather jacket tore a scroll with Chinese characters.
“Yes, look at all the stylish furniture they have!” said a man in a winter jacket and red hat.
When the Capitol Police secured the building at around 6 pm, the historic building’s windows and doors were broken, the offices were looted and some furniture was damaged, overturned or looted.
Detailed damage assessments by the Architect of the Capitol or the US Capitol Police have not yet been released. But the unique works of art that curators consider the building’s treasures do not appear to have suffered much damage.
It could have been much worse, said Dr. Wolanin.
His biggest concern was the 5.5-meter large-scale paintings by Trumbull and other artists depicting scenes of the foundation of the republic in Rotunda, and the dozens of statues that occupy the National Statuary Hall to the south.
With inaccessible security was “The Apotheosis of Washington”, a fresco on the roof of the Rotunda that shows the nation’s first president flanked by Freedom, Victory, Science, War and other allegorical figures.
Particularly vulnerable was the National Statuary Hall south of the Rotunda, which contains 35 statues of prominent Americans, part of a collection of 100 statues on the Capitol – two from each of the 50 states – that honor notable figures like Samuel Adams, Rosa Parks and Thomas Edison.
The Capitol’s collection of paintings also includes works by artists such as Thomas Crawford and Constantino Brumidi, with a mix of portraits and landscapes. George Washington’s original paintings, like one in the Old Senate Chamber, are some of the most precious.
The building itself is a work of art, a model of neoclassical architecture designed by Dr. William Thornton in the late 1700s and completed by Boston architect Charles Bulfinch in 1826. But at the height of the turmoil, people were scaling its exterior using ropes, while others used sticks as battering rams to open an entrance. Inside, a pro-Trump loyalist posed on the Senate stage while another hung from the camera’s balcony.
The history of the Capitol as a place is captured in the Hall of Capitols corridor of the House wing, in a series of murals by Allyn Cox. Eight landmark events from the first 65 years of the building and portraits of the nine men who were named Capitol Architects between 1793 and 1995 adorn the ceilings.
Dr. Wolanin said that this was the first time that the Capitol collection has been threatened on this scale. Although individual pieces have suffered “a little” damage in the past, such as when a sniper invaded the building in 1998, killed two policemen and injured a tourist before being captured, the last violation by a large and violent group of people was during the War of 1812, almost 200 years ago, when British invading troops set fire to the building.
“They didn’t respect any of those things,” said Wolanin of the crowd that sacked the building on Wednesday. “This is what is really scary.”
On Thursday, some historic preservationists discussed the damage, including the question of whether part of it should be left as a historical marker for the day.
Anthony Veerkamp, a former director of policy development for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said that some of the physical damage must be preserved “as a reminder that our monuments, institutions and values are all vulnerable and must be constantly care. ”
But he noted that it was important to do it in a way that did not guarantee protesters hero status.
“It is important not to inadvertently create a sanctuary that appears to honor the rebels,” he said.