As the Virgo Turns

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Next time you visit the Capitol building, try using one of the four entrances between the Capitol wings for a pleasant surprise. The first room you enter from each of these entrances is small and round. These four rooms are known as Capitol "Round Rooms". As you walk through the Round Rooms, pause to look up at the ceiling so you won't miss the Signs of the Zodiac. That's right, all the Signs of the Zodiac - Pisces, Gemini, Capricorn, and Libra, to name a few - are painted on the ceiling within a delicate band of gilded circles and hexagons. Each circle and hexagon is adorned with a simple outline painting of one of the zodiac signs with its corresponding name written across it.

The Signs of the Zodiac show up again at the Capitol, if you peek in the Governor's Conference Room. That room was styled after the small council chambers of the Doge's Palace in Venice, which is decorated with zodiac signs. This theme was simply carried from the Governor's Conference Room to the Capitol entrances.

In a building whose interior is so rich with lavish detail everywhere you look, the zodiac design is easy to miss. Now that you have been given a "heads-up" on this interesting Capitol feature, remember to "look-up" when you enter the Capitol so you won't miss it on your next visit to the State of Wisconsin Capitol building.

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