The previous State Capitol building was destroyed by fire and a new one constructed between 1911 and 1917, based on the Capitol in Washington. Brangwyn was asked to advise on the colour scheme for the new building as well as producing murals for the dome and pendentives.
He never went to the States and his geography was obviously a tad amiss because in the studio he frequently referred to the project as the ‘St Louis job’ and one of the drawings is labelled ‘for the statehouse at St Louis’. The Commission set the fee and Brangwyn was paid $65,000 for the 13 canvasses.
The eye of the dome canvas is 36ft in diameter and depicts Agriculture, Commerce, Science, and Education.
The four pendentives are 48ft wide at top, 15ft wide at base, 24ft high, and represent ‘Missouri in Four Great Historical Periods’, being titled The Historic Landing (Laclede Parleying with the Indians), The Pioneers (illustrated above), The Home-Makers, and The Builders.
At one stage Brangwyn and his assistant discovered that the measurements they had for the job didn’t match ones taken from the blueprints – some of the measurements being 7ft out! The fact that in situ the canvas had to bend in two directions didn’t help. Most of the figures were about 14-15ft high – Brangwyn observed that he knocked out a figure in less than a day once he had the cartoons.
The model Cervi sat for many of the sketches. Cervi was an Italian ice-cream vendor and part time model. If Brangwyn did not have props to hand, he resorted to friends to supply them – probably in return for a quick sketch. Brangwyn wrote an urgent letter to a contact asking for the loan of an Indian headdress which Cervi donned. Brangwyn was obviously attracted to the colour and drama of native Indian costume, having depicted it previously in murals for the Canadian Grand Trunk Railway and Christ’s Hospital, and later for the British Empire panels.
The rotunda and four upper panels were completed in 1923.
By this time Brangwyn had been offered the commission to decorate the lower part of the Dome. Brangwyn grumbled that he had undertaken the dome and pendentives without appreciating the amount of work involved and couldn’t take on extra work at the same price.
The eight lower dome panels are approximately 28ft wide and 16ft high (some are larger than others) and they represent Earth, Wind, Air, Water, Agriculture, Science, Education, and Art. They were completed by 1925.
For studies on this website see Building the new home and Workmen with adze and Sawyer