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History, Art and Architecture Parliamentary buildings Past House of Commons Foyer

House of Commons Foyer

Canadians most often see the House of Commons Foyer on televised scrums, when journalists ask questions of elected officials, but the splendour and Gothic Revival grandeur of the space must be appreciated firsthand.
Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 1
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Pointed Arches

Grand, pointed arches repeat in the architecture and ornamentation, rising to columns of black marble and the stained glass skylight. All around is oak, glass, and stone. Light pours in through glass panels in the ceiling and the large windows above the Members’ entrance, illuminating a trove of art and design all the way down to the marble floor. Presiding over all are gilded portraits of Canada’s Prime Ministers.
Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 2
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 3
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 4
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 5
Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 6
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 7
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 8
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 9
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 10
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 11
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 12
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 13
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 14
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Photo gallery for Pointed Arches photo 15
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Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 1
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Works of Art

Over the decades, dozens of artists and crafts people have created a rich array of sculptures. Friezes abound, representing the provinces and territories, and the history of Canada. Twenty carved heads made in 1918 represent prominent parliamentarians and are among the first sculptures created for the new building.
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 2
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 3
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 4
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Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 5
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 6
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 7
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Works of Art photo 8
© HOC-CDC

Objects from the collection

O-815.1
The Right Honourable
Charles J. Doherty
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.2
The Honourable
Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.3
The Right Honourable
Sir George Eulas Foster
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.4
The Honourable
Sir William Thomas White
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.5
The Right Honourable
Sir Charles Tupper
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.6
The Honourable
Frank B. Carvell
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.7
The Honourable
Robert Baldwin
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.8
The Honourable
Charles Murphy
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.9
Michael Clark
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.10
The Honourable
Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.11
The Honourable
Sir George-Étienne Cartier
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.12
The Honourable
Sir Oliver Mowat
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.13
The Honourable
Joseph Howe
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.14
The Honourable
George Brown
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.15
The Honourable
Alexander Mackenzie
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.16
The Honourable
William Pugsley
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.17
The Right Honourable
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.18
The Right Honourable
Sir Robert Laird Borden
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.19
The Honourable
Robert Rogers
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-815.20
The Right Honourable
Sir John Alexander Macdonald
1918-1919
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-836
Life cycle
1981
Abraham Anghik
O-841
Shaman
1981
Geesee Akulukjuk (Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative Ltd.)
O-849.1
Great Seal Deputed of Upper Canada of George III
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Fernand Rossignol
O-849.2
Great Seal Deputed of Lower Canada of George IV
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Fernand Rossignol
O-849.3
Great Seal Deputed of Nova Scotia of Victoria
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Fernand Rossignol
O-849.4
Great Seal Deputed of New Brunswick of Victoria
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Fernand Rossignol
O-856
Opposition Entrance
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Anthony Borysink • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Fernand Rossignol
O-857
Opposition Entrance
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Anthony Borysink • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff
O-865
Lieutenant-Colonel George Harold Baker
1923
Robert Tait McKenzie
O-867
Arrowhead
1983
Guy Sioui
O-871
Inuk Hunter
1982
Pauloosie Akitirq (Kooneak Co-operative Association Ltd.)
O-876.1
The Sailor
1953-1955
O-876.2
DC-3 Airliner
1953-1955
O-876.3
The Farmer
1953-1955
O-876.4
Tractor
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol
O-876.5
Bronco and rider
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol
O-876.6
The Miner
1953-1955
O-876.7
Generator
1953-1955
O-876.8
The Lumberjack
1953-1955
O-876.9
The three mated schooner
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Wilfrid Rossignol
O-876.10
Fisherman and net
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Wilfrid Rossignol
O-879.1
An Inuit man teaches a boy to hunt
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Iti Busolo • Anton Jensen Nielsen
O-879.2
The Bluefish Cave people enter life in a new land
1962
Carvers Team • R. Eleanor Milne • Anton Jensen Nielsen
O-879.3
The Ceremonial Hunt
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.4
Native people greet Vikings arriving in Newfoundland between 900 and 1000 CE
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Anton Jensen Nielsen • Fernand Rossignol • Roland Rossignol
O-879.5
John Cabot, holding a scroll in his left hand and a tiller in his right
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.6
Europeans fish off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Roland Rossignol
O-879.7
Jacques Cartier maps the shores of the St. Lawrence River
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Fernand Rossignol • Roland Rossignol
O-879.8
The first merchant ships navigate the St. Lawrence River
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Fernand Rossignol
O-879.9
Samuel de Champlain encounters an aboriginal guide willing to lead him inland
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol
O-879.10
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol
O-879.11
An allegory of life enduring in the midst of strife
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol • Carvers Team
O-879.12
The Treaty of Paris, 1763
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Anton Jensen Nielsen
O-879.13
Boundaries
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Anton Jensen Nielsen • Roland Rossignol
O-879.14
A family of European settlers establishes a homestead
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol • Iti Busolo
O-879.15
The Battle of Queenston Heights, 1812
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol
O-879.16
Christians and Native people meet
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Joseph Joanisse • Anton Jensen Nielsen
O-879.17
An Allegory of Education
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.18
A woman teaches a group of children
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Roland Rossignol
O-879.19
The Red River Settlement
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Anton Jensen Nielsen
O-879.20
David Thompson, surveyor and map-maker
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.21
The railroad links east to west
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Maurice Joanisse • Fernand Rossignol
O-879.22
The Fur Trade
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Joseph Joanisse • Fernand Rossignol
O-879.23
Banking is Founded in Canada
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.24
Les Voyageurs
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Fernand Rossignol • Roland Rossignol
O-879.25
The position of the North Magnetic Pole is determined
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Marcel Joanisse • Fernand Rossignol
O-879.26
An officer of the North West Mounted Police dressed for the Arctic
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Marcel Joanisse
O-879.27
Panning for gold in the Yukon Territory
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Marcel Joanisse • Anton Jensen Nielsen • Roland Rossignol
O-879.28
The Destruction of the Acadian Colony, 1755
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Fernand Rossignol
O-879.29
An Allegory of Freedom
1962
R. Eleanor Milne
O-879.30
The Arrival of the United Empire Loyalists
1962
R. Eleanor Milne • Joseph Joanisse
O-880.1
keystone
1962
Carvers Team
O-880.2
keystone
1962
Carvers Team
O-880.3
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.4
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.5
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.6
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.7
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.8
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.9
keystone
Circa 1970
Carvers Team
O-880.10
keystone
1962-1975
Carvers Team
O-885.1
Newfoundland
1953-1955
O-885.2
British Columbia
1953-1955
O-885.3
Alberta
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol
O-885.4
Saskatchewan
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol
O-885.5
Manitoba
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol
O-885.6
Ontario
1953-1955
O-885.7
Quebec
1953-1955
O-885.8
Nova Scotia
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Wilfrid Rossignol
O-885.9
Prince Edward Island
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Wilfrid Rossignol
O-885.10
New Brunswick
1953-1955
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Iti Busolo • Wilfrid Filion • Fernand Rossignol • Wilfrid Rossignol
O-912
Untitled
1918
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-916
Untitled
1918
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-921
Untitled
1990
Kumakuluk Saggiak
O-937
Ceremonial Entrance
1918
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
O-7304
Government Entrance
1959
William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff • Anthony Borysink • Wilfrid Filion • William Frederic Karel Oosterhoff
O-7305
Government Entrance
1918
Walter Joseph Allen • Carvers Team
Photo gallery for Giniigaaniimenaaning photo 1
© HOC-CDC

Giniigaaniimenaaning

More recent additions to the space include Métis artist Christi Belcourt’s 2012 stained glass window Giniigaaniimenaaning (Looking Ahead), commissioned in recognition of Indian Residential School survivors, as well as Inuk artist Bart Hanna’s sculpture of the sea goddess Sedna, unveiled in 2019 to mark the 20th anniversary of Nunavut joining Confederation.
Photo gallery for Giniigaaniimenaaning photo 2
© HOC-CDC
Photo gallery for Giniigaaniimenaaning photo 3
© HOC-CDC

Objects from the collection

O-8255
Giniigaaniimenaaning
2012/10/09
Christi Belcourt
O-9266
Sedna
2019/04/08
Bart Hanna

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