Michigan's Capitol building celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of visitors admire it grandeur and look up to see the beautiful paintings in its dome. However, when the Capitol opened in 1879, the walls were bare. All the money to build the Capitol had been spent. Six years later the legislature funded a project to decorate the walls and dome.

A Lansing State Republican reporter suggested that scenes of Michigan pioneer life be painted in the dome. Capitol architect Elijah E. Myers had specified that the smooth metal panels in the dome be painted with "ornamental allegorical paintings." The state hired William Wright's Detroit company to decorate the building. Wright followed the architect's instructions.

The result was eight muses representing agriculture, arts, astronomy/science, commerce, education, industry, justice, and law. The artist signed some of the murals, not with his name, but with a drawing. His name was not even written in state records. Click here to "Discover the Artist," Tommaso Juglaris.

The paintings of the muses have two basic elements. Click here to see a slideshow of the Muses' portraits.

First, the figure in each picture is a woman dressed in ancient Greek style (the original Muses were part of Greek mythology).

Second, each painting is allegorical: the muse holds objects that are used to tell the story of its theme. For example, the Muse of Agriculture painted by Juglaris holds a shovel, wears a crown of wheat, and has crops at her feet. Click here to read more details about the Muses.

If you visit the U.S. Capitol in Washington, you can see allegorical paintings representing subjects including "Geography," "History," "Liberty," "Peace," "Physics" and "Telegraph." Constantino Brumidi, an Italian artist who became an American citizen in 1852, painted them during the 1860s. Elijah Myers may have been inspired by these paintings when he recommended similar murals for his design of Michigan's Capitol. Click here to learn more about Constantino Brumidi.