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The busy, newly opened House Chamber is illustrated in this hand-colored wood engraving. The design of the new Chamber was intended to provide more space and also improve on serious acoustic and ventilation issues that had plagued the old Chamber. Opinions on the interior design style were split. Crayon, an art connoisseur’s journal, praised the Chamber’s “surpassing gorgeousness” and its “artistic effect unsurpassed in North America.” Less aesthetically-minded individuals thought otherwise. Vermont Senator Jacob Collamer said the design was “entirely overburdened . . . by the great variety of colors.”
History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “The New Hall of Representatives, with the Members in Session,” https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2003/2003-033-001/ (February 24, 2026)
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