Progress of the State

The allegorical statuary group representing civilization is in an arrangement known as a quadriga, consisting of a chariot pulled by four horses.

The sculpture, made by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter, was based on their earlier Columbus Quadriga statuary, at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago.

The exterior copper surface is gilded in 23 karat gold leaf and requires re-gilding approximately every 20 years.

In his design for the Capitol, architect Cass Gilbert left out the classical triangular pediment favored in the Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts government architecture of the time and instead in its place installed a quadriga monument at the base of the dome.

The inspiration for the Minnesota quadriga was the Columbus Quadriga, a statue depicting Christopher Columbus standing in a four horse chariot guided by two maidens carrying staffs of victory that Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter had modeled for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago.

"[7] The Progress of the State was devised as an allegorical statuary where a prosperous Minnesota proceeds onward by means of the power of nature (horses) and civilization (the women).

In addition to personifying the state of Minnesota, the male charioteer holding a cornucopia (horn of plenty), a symbol of abundance and nourishment, represents prosperity.

[10] Every year, the condition of the statuary is reviewed with conservators making slight repairs and touching up the gold leaf as necessary.