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Second Floor Hallways
Corridor Paintings and Marble Water FountainsThe paintings located on the upper hallway walls are called Lunettes. The word lunette comes from the root word lunar meaning half-moon shaped. These paintings were done by artist Charles Picot and depict scenes of South Dakota before visitation of the white man in the early 1800's
To view these paintings, go here.
The marble water fountains are excellent examples of the Greek symbolism found throughout the Capitol. The underside of the water fountain looks like a sea shell and the top area looks like the open half of a sea shell. Sea shells were considered to be symbols of water.
On both the left and right sides of the fountain are carvings of the pasque flower, which is the South Dakota State Flower. Above the flower are carvings of Acanthus leaves which are symbols of wisdom, which are also depicted in the Capitol Dome.
At the very top of the fountain is a heart carving. Originally there was no plumbing at the fountains, there was just a basin with water in the bowl area. A small tin cup sat on the ledge and everyone shared the common cup to get their drink of water. This explains why the fountains are so high. When they were built it was not intended for people to lean over the edge to get their drink of water.
Also, at the end of the hallway stands this statue of General W.H.H. Beadle.
Next Stop: South Dakota State Supreme Court (second floor, east wing)
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