United States Capitol

===Crypt===
[[File:USA-US Capitol2.JPG|thumb|The [[United States Capitol crypt|Capitol crypt]]]]
On the ground floor is an area known as [[United States Capitol crypt|the Crypt]]. It was intended to be the burial place of [[George Washington]], with a ringed [[balustrade]] at the center of the Rotunda above looking down to his tomb. However, under the stipulations of his last [[Will (law)|will]], Washington was buried at [[Mount Vernon]]. The Crypt houses exhibits on the history of the Capitol. A [[Compass rose|compass star]] inlaid in the floor marks the point at which Washington, D.C. is divided into its four quadrants and is the basis for how [[Streets and highways of Washington, D.C.|addresses in Washington, D.C.]], are designated ([[Northeast, Washington, D.C.|NE]], [[Northwest, Washington, D.C.|NW]], [[Southeast, Washington, D.C.|SE]], or [[Southwest, Washington, D.C.|SW]]).

[[Gutzon Borglum]]'s massive ''[[Bust of Abraham Lincoln (Borglum)|Abraham Lincoln Bust]]'' is housed in the crypt. The sculptor had a fascination with large-scale art and themes of heroic nationalism, and carved the piece from a six-ton block of [[marble]]. Borglum carved the bust in 1908; it was donated to the Congress by [[Eugene Meyer (financier)|Eugene Meyer Jr.]] and accepted by the [[Joint Committee on the Library]] the same year. The pedestal was specially designed by the sculptor and installed in 1911. The bust and pedestal were on display in the Rotunda until 1979 when, after a rearrangement of all the sculptures in the Rotunda, they were placed in the Crypt.<ref name="Abraham Lincoln Bust">{{cite web|title=Abraham Lincoln Bust|url=https://www.aoc.gov/art/busts/abraham-lincoln-bust|publisher=Architect of the Capitol|access-date=May 2, 2017}}</ref> Borglum was a patriot and believed the "monuments we have built are not our own"; he looked to create art that was "American, drawn from American sources, memorializing American achievement", according to a 1908 interview article.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Borglum's depiction of Lincoln was so accurate that [[Robert Todd Lincoln]], the president's son, praised the bust as "the most extraordinarily good portrait of my father I have ever seen".<ref name="Abraham Lincoln Bust"/> Supposedly, according to legend, the marble head remains unfinished (missing the left ear) to symbolize Lincoln's [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|unfinished life]].