The Wisconsin State Capitol Building, located in Madison, was built in the Beaux Arts style between 1906 and 1917. It was designed by George B. Post and replaced the previous state capitol, which burned down in 1904. The building accommodates both the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Office of the Governor of Wisconsin. The building features a unique cross-shaped design, with four five-story wings aligned towards the compass directions and radial streets. The greek cross footprint places the building at a 45-degree angle orientation relative to the edges of Capitol Square and most buildings on adjacent streets. It stands 284 feet tall, topped with a statue sculpted by Daniel Chester French, which is a personification of the state of Wisconsin.
The exterior of the building is clad in Bethel white granite, and the dome is the largest in the world to be entirely clad in granite. The building underwent a major renovation in the 1970s, covering up many original features, but later restorations between 1988 and 2002 updated the building’s systems and functions for the modern needs of the state government. The exterior of the building features porticoes on the ends with corinthian columns, arched windows on the third floor, rusticated bases with entrance doors and decorative keystones, decorative reliefs featuring festoons over the windows on the porticoes, cornices with modillions and dentils, and pediments with sculptural reliefs.
Each wing of the building has a different sculpture on the portico pediment designed by several sculptors that embodies different symbolism, such as Karl Bitter’s Law and Agriculture on the east and west wings, respectively, Adolph Alexander Weinman’s Virtues and Traits of Character on the north wing, and Attilio Piccirilli’s Wisdom and Learning of the World on the south wing. The sides of the wings feature simpler cornices with dentils, pilasters and recessed window openings with arched openings at the ground floor, windows with decorative pedimented headers on the second floor, arched windows on the third floor, two small two-over-two windows on the fourth floor, and a recessed fifth floor featuring small paired windows, hidden behind a balustrade that runs around the entirety of the building minus the ends of the wings, concealing a low-slope roof at the setbacks on the sides of the wings and above the corner porticoes.
The center of the building features a rotunda topped with a large dome that rises from a tall base. The unique building design and elaborate exterior features make the Wisconsin State Capitol Building a popular attraction for visitors to Madison.