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The most distinctive features that define the Senate Chamber are the 16 towering columns that support the ceiling of the great room. These columns stand atop polished walls made of Carthage Marble blocks taken from the Phenix Quarry in Greene County. The columns, topped by Ionic capitals, are made of polished New Hamsphire marble.
The marble in the columns is one of the few materials used in the Capitol that is not from Missouri. Twelve of the columns stand in front of the upper galleries. Four columns rise behind the president's dais, framing the rostrum and the painted-glass window of Hernando DeSoto that rises behind it.
The columns and their richly veined color were integral to the design planned by Charles A. W. Rinschede of New York, who was responsible for coordinating the decorations of the Upper Chamber.
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