The eight winged entities in the rotunda dorm form a celestial rose and represent sacred and civic virtues. The virtues are: Charity, Hope, Magnanimity, Faith, Justice, Wisdom, Courage, Justice, and Temperance. The winged and helmeted, art deco figures stand on pedestals holding hands and forming a circle.
Hildreth Meière described her work on the Virtues fondly:
Meière, too, was pleased with the dome, describing its effect as “glittering and magnificent,” with “no mechanical, dead surface anywhere, and the light plays over it happily, as over good mosaics.
International Hildreth Meière Association
About Hildreth Meière
Hildreth Meière (me-AIR) was one of the greatest American muralists of the 20th century. She was a pioneer in her field and created a more modern approach to murals that differed from the academic traditions at the time. She blended several classic influences, including classic Greek vase painting, Byzantine Mosaics, and Native American beadwork into a style known as Art Deco.
Up until her death in 1961 she acknowledged the Nebraska State Capitol as her crowning achievement.
