architecture

The National Gallery of Art

This west building of the National Gallery of Art was designed by John Russell Pope . It is located at 600 Constitution Avenue NW , Judiciary Square Metro in Washington D .C . It was established in 1938 after compiling artworks such paintings and sculptures from collectors such Andrew Mellon and Joseph Widener . Although Pope 's architectural passions included reviving Gothic and eighteenth-century French designs , his work on the National Gallery of Art was actually influenced by the Roman Pantheon

This architectural wonder can be best described as neoclassical

, a remarkable attempt to reach back to the glory days of Greek-inspired classical antiquity . Although the front face of the building consists of predominantly blank spaces and minimalist decoration , there ends the slightest resemblance to modernism . The rest of the building is a rich tribute to classical design , especially the central spaces . This Renaissance-inspired architectural feat lends an antique look , which makes people often perceive the building to be older than it actually is

The entrance of the building leads to a big rotunda housing a double circle of green marble-clad columns . These columns are of Ionic since they are slender and fluted i .e . vertically ribbed . The capital of a column is the upper part supporting the entablature . In the Ionic of Greek architecture , the capital has volutes . The architrave part of the entablature that rests on the column consists of horizontally sculptured band designs called frieze and they are bas-relief carving in Ionic . This...