The last of the Rotunda’s old marble column capitals were removed Friday afternoon to make room for the installation of new, recrafted capitals. The first 10 new capitals are expected to arrive in the United States from Carrara, Italy in the next few weeks. The last six are expected in the spring.
Historic Preservation Project Manager James Zehmer said many aspects of the old capitals’ environment likely contributed to their deterioration, including porosity of the stone due to gradual dissolution of the marble, poor initial marble quality, the presence of “micro-cracks” in the stone — and the seasonal tendency for moisture to undergo freeze-thaw cycles, causing the expansion of these cracks.
The capitals, which date to a restoration of the building in 1896, have also suffered from the degrading properties of bird excrement and bird deterrents. Avian excrement contains salts and acids which can break down the composition of the stone, while deterrents seal moisture and pollutants into the marble.
“All of these different factors led to the degradation,” Zehmer said. “They are currently in very poor shape. I took a piece in my hands today and just broke it in half. The marble is beginning to go through a process called sugaring, where it turns into a very fine grain white marble dust. The old capitals were starting to pose a safety risk to the people below and to the structure itself since they hold up the portico roof.”
Senior Historic Preservation Planner Brian Hogg said the old capitals were beginning to take away from the landmark’s visual splendor in addition to prompting structural concerns.
“They have been deteriorating to the point where their appearance was extremely compromised,” Hogg said. “They were reaching the end of their lives aesthetically, and we weren’t sure how much longer they would continue to function structurally.”
Zehmer said there were reasons beyond physical degradation for replacing the capitals, including concerns over adhering to original design. He said the old capitals were modeled from the Jeffersonian period, but the carvings were not necessarily of the best quality.
To ensure closer compliance to its original form, the new capitals will be carved differently from the ones they are replacing. Where the old column capitals were carved after they were secured on top of the columns, Zehmer said the new tops will be carved before installation.
“It’s a 3-D textbook,” Zehmer said. “Jefferson considered architectural literacy to be a major component of everyone’s education [and] the architecture of the Lawn was meant to be learned from. Hopefully these newer, more detailed capitals will play their part in inspiring students and Virginians to explore architecture in a better way and encourage them to learn about and better understand it.”
Installation of the first capital is planned for Feb. 9, and Rotunda renovations are projected to be completed during the summer of 2016.
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