British Empire Building

The British Empire Building, also known by its address 620 Fifth Avenue, is a commercial building at Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the six-story structure was designed in the Art Deco style by Raymond Hood, Rockefeller Center's lead architect. The British Empire Building, along with the nearly identical La Maison Francaise to the south and the high-rise International Building to the north, comprise a group of retail-and-office structures known as the International Complex. La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building are separated by Channel Gardens, a planted pedestrian esplanade running west to the complex's Lower Plaza.

The facade is made of limestone, with a main entrance along Fifth Avenue and secondary entrances on 50th Street and Channel Gardens. The top of the British Empire Building contains setbacks, a rooftop garden, and a partial seventh-story penthouse. The building's entrances contain ornate decorations by Lee Lawrie and Carl Paul Jennewein, while the windows include decorations by Rene Paul Chambellan. The entire Rockefeller Center complex is a New York City designated landmark and a National Historic Landmark.

La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building were developed as part of the construction of Rockefeller Center after a proposal for a single building on the site was scrapped. After the British government signed a lease for the building in January 1932, work began the next month with a groundbreaking ceremony in July 1932. The building was completed in 1933 and initially mainly hosted British companies. Over the years, the building has contained a variety of tenants, including stores and travel companies.

## Site

The British Empire Building is part of the Rockefeller Center complex in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Located at 620 Fifth Avenue, it is part of Rockefeller Center's International Complex. The British Empire Building's architectural twin La Maison Francaise is directly to the south, and the International Building is directly to the north. The rectangular land lot is shared with La Maison Francaise and is bounded by Rockefeller Plaza to the west, 50th Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the east, and 49th Street to the south. It covers 63,261 square feet (5,877.1 m2) and has a frontage of 200.83 ft (61 m) on Fifth Avenue and 315 ft (96 m) on the streets.

The Channel Gardens, a 60-foot-wide (18 m), 200-foot-long (61 m) planted pedestrian esplanade, separates the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise. It is named after the English Channel, the waterway separating Britain and France. The plaza slopes down toward the Lower Plaza to the west.The Lower Plaza is a below-grade courtyard containing Paul Manship's Prometheus sculpture and a seasonal ice rink. Architectural critic Paul Goldberger of The New York Times described the British Empire Building, Channel Gardens, and La Maison Francaise as "leading to a central focus", namely the Lower Plaza.

The British Empire Building is in the eastern section of the Rockefeller Center complex. Within Rockefeller Center, the building faces 1 Rockefeller Plaza to the south, 10 Rockefeller Plaza to the southwest, 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the west, 50 Rockefeller Plaza to the northwest, and the British Empire Building and International Building to the north. The building is also near St. Patrick's Cathedral to the northeast, the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship store (including 623 Fifth Avenue) to the east, 597 Fifth Avenue to the southeast, and 608 Fifth Avenue and 600 Fifth Avenue to the south. The site was previously part of the campus of Columbia University, which retained ownership of most of the land well after the complex was built.

## Architecture

The British Empire Building is a six-story limestone building, with setbacks to the north and south above the fifth story. The building was designed by the Associated Architects of Rockefeller Center, composed of the firms of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray; Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux; and Reinhard & Hofmeister. The Associated Architects designed all of Rockefeller Center's buildings in the Art Deco style.

According to The New York Times, the British Empire Building measures 90 feet (27 m) tall to the top of its sixth story. The edifice measures 70 feet (21 m) on Fifth Avenue and 200 feet (61 m) on 50th Street. There is a 1+1⁄2-story penthouse above the west half of the sixth story and a roof garden above the eastern half of the sixth story. The seventh-story penthouse gives the building a more imposing massing along the Lower Plaza than along Fifth Avenue. The masses of the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise complement that of 623 Fifth Avenue to the east and 30 Rockefeller Plaza to the west.

### Facade

The entire facade is made of limestone. The ground floor of the British Empire Building includes storefronts and display windows on all four elevations. The building's storefronts were originally assigned address numbers 620A to 620G on Fifth Avenue. The British Empire Building contains a cornerstone at its southeast corner, with inscriptions. Above the ground floor is a cornice with a bead and reel molding. The second through seventh floors have steel sash windows with slightly recessed limestone spandrels between the windows on each story. The windows are separated by flat vertical piers with ribbon moldings at their capitals. Three flagpoles hang from the piers on Fifth Avenue. The setbacks are also topped by ribbon moldings. There are also cornices above the setbacks, which were intended to draw viewers' attention toward 30 Rockefeller Plaza.

Hartley Burr Alexander, a mythology and symbology professor who oversaw Rockefeller Center's art program, led the installation of artwork throughout the complex. Rockefeller Center's international complex was decorated to an international theme, with motifs representing the arts, peace, and commerce. The British Empire Building's artwork was themed to "symbols of a new day". The building's art was designed by American artists. This contrasted with La Maison Francaise and the International Building's Palazzo d'Italia wing, which were decorated by artists from the buildings' respective home countries of France and Italy. As Britain did not have a good economy at the time of the building's construction, most of the artwork in the building focused on the historical empire rather than its artistic contribution.

#### Fifth Avenue

Carl Paul Jennewein sculpted nine gold-leaf figures on three vertical panels above the entrance, signifying commerce and industry in different parts of the British Empire. They represent the major industries and the products traded within the empire: salt, coal, tobacco, wheat, fish, wool, cotton, and sugar. Some of the figures also serve as personifications of countries in the Commonwealth of Nations. All figures except the central one are labeled with their respective industry. A radial sun beneath the center figures symbolizes the global empire on which "the sun never sets".

Above these panels, Jennewein also sculpted a cartouche that depicts the British coat of arms. The coat of arms is divided into quadrants with gold-colored motifs. The top left and bottom right quadrants have three passant guardant lions on a red background, signifying England. The top right quadrant shows a rampant lion on a red background, representing Scotland. The bottom left quadrant depicts a harp on a green background, standing for Ireland. Around the coat of arms is a ribbon with the gilded motto of the British chivalric Order of the Garter: "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (Shame on him who thinks evil about it). A lion with a crown is to the left of the coat of arms, while a unicorn is to the right; they represent England and Scotland respectively. Additional motifs of the British Isles are present below the animals. The bottom of the bas relief is inscribed with the motto of the British Royalty: "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my right).

Rene Chambellan created four bas-reliefs above the sixth-story windows. They depict the coats of arms of Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland from left to right. The Welsh panel depicts plumes above a Welsh Dragon, while the English panel depicts a lion and a Tudor rose. The Scottish panel is a unicorn with a thistle, while the Irish panel contains a stag, a harp, and a trefoil shamrock. Early plans called for the Fifth Avenue elevation to be capped by a limestone frieze and statues, but these were greatly simplified in the final plans.

#### Other elevations

The west elevation rises seven stories and includes display windows, but no doors, at ground level. West of the building, stairs descend from the sidewalk to the Lower Plaza. As a result, the west elevation's left display window is smaller than the other display windows on that elevation. The west elevation does not itself set back, but the fifth- and seventh-story setbacks of the north and south elevations are visible. The west elevation is divided by four piers, each with a bronze hood for illumination. The leftmost pier contains a small inscription with the text "Rockefeller Center".

The north and south elevations are similar to each other and include ground-level storefronts and display windows. On the ground story of both elevations, there are four storefronts or display windows on either side of a secondary entrance. On the secondary entrances, Lee Lawrie placed decorations signifying symbols of the empire's power. The entrances themselves are recessed and include revolving doors. The western eight bays of each elevation rise to the seventh story, with limestone lattice spandrels and an additional setback above six of these bays. There is a cornerstone with an inscription at the southeast corner of the building.

The northern entrance at 10 West 50th Street is simple in design. It contains three gilded lions in a passant-gardant posture, which are carved into the limestone block above the entrance. Beneath the lions is a lintel with gray-and-gold background and red Tudor roses. The southern entrance on Channel Gardens is topped by a gilded carving of Mercury, flying over a set of blue-green waves. Mercury is depicted carrying a caduceus, with a fan-shaped sun above him. Below Mercury is a lintel with dark-blue rhombuses and golden triangles. Both entrances' decorations were made in intaglio, making them flush with the facade.

### Features

The British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise together contain only 173,000 square feet (16,100 m2) of floor area, even though their site can theoretically accommodate a 912,800-square-foot (84,800 m2) building. When the building was completed, it had a gross floor area of 54,000 square feet (5,000 m2) across six stories and two basements. The basement connects to other buildings at Rockefeller Center, including 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the International Building, and La Maison Francaise. The building had a high-pressure steam system in place of radiators. During summer, the interior spaces were cooled to 80 °F (27 °C) by high-pressure steam, supplied by melting up to 600,000 pounds (270,000 kg) of ice per day. During winter, the interior temperature was kept at 70 °F (21 °C).

The superstructure is made of skeletal steel and weighs 1,700 short tons (1,500 long tons; 1,500 t). The building's steel structure was strengthened to support the weight of the rooftop garden, which is planted with flowers and hedges. The rooftop also contains a memorial garden known as Anzac Garden, which was installed in 1942. C. J. Hughes of The New York Times described the roof gardens in 2019 as "jewels that have broken loose from a necklace and landed on a dusty floor".

## History

The construction of Rockefeller Center occurred between 1932 and 1940 on land that John D. Rockefeller Jr. leased from Columbia University. The Rockefeller Center site was originally supposed to be occupied by a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera. By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house. However, the new building was too expensive for the opera to fund by itself, and it needed an endowment. The project ultimately gained Rockefeller's support. The planned opera house was canceled in December 1929 due to various issues, and Rockefeller quickly negotiated with Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its subsidiaries, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), to build a mass media entertainment complex on the site. By May 1930, RCA and its affiliates had agreed to develop the site.

### Development

One proposal for Rockefeller Center, revealed in March 1930, included an oval retail building on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, whose top floors would contain Chase National Bank offices. A refined proposal, announced in March 1931, called for a rooftop garden atop the oval building. The public criticized the revised plan and saw the oval building in particular as clashing with other designs on Fifth Avenue. The oval building was scrapped in early 1931 after Chase withdrew from the project. It was replaced by a pair of six-story retail buildings between 49th and 50th Streets, as well as a 41-story tower on the block to the north. Because the canceled oval building had contained rooftop gardens, Raymond Hood suggested the idea for rooftop gardens across the complex, including on all of the retail buildings. These gardens would be curated by Ralph Hancock.

As American tenants were reluctant to rent in these retail buildings, Rockefeller Center manager Hugh Robertson, formerly of Todd, Robertson and Todd, suggested foreign tenants for the buildings. The complex's managers promoted Rockefeller Center as a "hub for international trade". Rockefeller Center's managers held talks with prospective Czech, German, Italian, and Swedish lessees who could potentially occupy the six-story internationally themed buildings on Fifth Avenue. Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian tenants were also reportedly considered. The British government leased the building in January 1932, making it the first themed building for which an agreement was made. The building was to be a free port, with all of its merchandise being exempted from tariffs, and it would host the governmental and commercial ventures of the United Kingdom. The seventh-story penthouse above the building was added late in the design process.

Excavation for the sites of the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise began in February 1932. Within two months, more than 28,000 cubic yards (21,000 m3) of dirt had been excavated. Work on the buildings temporarily stopped in May 1932 because of a labor strike. A groundbreaking ceremony for the British Empire Building was held on July 2, 1932, when Francis Hopwood, 1st Baron Southborough, placed the cornerstone. The British Building's structural steel started construction in October of that year. The building topped out on November 15, 1932, just sixteen workdays after steel contractors Post & McCord had started erecting the superstructure. Afterward, construction contractors Barr, Irons & Lane continued to fit out the building. Jennewein's ornamentation was installed the next January. By early April 1933, the building's plastering and tilework were completed. That month, the New York Building Congress hosted a ceremony on the second floor, giving craftsmanship awards to 27 workers who were involved in the project. Lawrie was hired to create the decorative panels for the building's facade that June.

### 1930s to 1970s

A two-story free port under the British Empire Building was announced in October 1933. The next month, cigarette brand Dunhill opened a three-story tobacco and specialty store in the building, with a mural by Arthur Crisp and the world's largest conditioned humidor. Other early tenants included perfumer Yardley London, furniture store Arundell Clarke Ltd., the Empire Galleries art gallery, Imperial Airways, and the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce. By the beginning of 1935, the British Empire Building was 91 percent occupied. The building also hosted exhibits such as a display of Ethiopian coins and a model-boat show. Rockefeller Center celebrated the building's first anniversary in October 1935 with a "cocktail and tea party" featuring actor Roland Young. The last vacant space in the British Empire Building was leased by British company Aluminum Ltd. in April 1937, making it the first building in Rockefeller Center to be fully leased.

Among the tenants that moved into the British Empire Building in the 1940s were gift store The Waldrons (which expanded its space four times in two years); jewelry firm Staiger & May; shipbuilding magnate Henry J. Kaiser; the Canadian consulate general in New York City; and shoe store Hanan & Son. In addition, a memorial to Anzac fighters in World War II opened within the rooftop garden in 1942. Even during World War II, the building was recorded as being fully occupied in 1944. After World War II, Rockefeller Center sought to add air conditioning to its original structures, as this feature was already in place in newer buildings. The British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise already had cooling systems, which were upgraded. Columbia University was tasked with installing air conditioning in the buildings. The onset of the Korean War in 1950 delayed the project but, by the next year, Columbia had acquiesced to reimbursing Rockefeller Center Inc. for the installation.

In the 1950s, menswear retailer Whitehouse and Hardy leased a store in the British Empire Building, and Japan Air Lines opened executive offices there. Additionally, Anzac Day commemorations were hosted at the building each year; though the holiday fell on April 25 each year, the celebrations could only take place on weekends due to lease stipulations. Leon Barmache redesigned the Yardley London store in the building in 1963. Shirt maker Custom Shop, a Magnavox "entertainment center", and jewelry shop Ordiam also occupied space at the British Empire Building in the 1970s. A gallery named Nikon House was also operating within the British Empire Building by the early 1980s. The building was also upgraded in the early 1980s to comply with more stringent fire-safety regulations.

### 1980s and 1990s

Columbia University was not making enough money from Rockefeller Center leases by the 1970s, and the university started looking to sell the land beneath Rockefeller Center, including the International Building, in 1983. That year, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held hearings to determine how much of Rockefeller Center should be protected as a landmark. The Rockefeller family and Columbia University acknowledged that the buildings were already symbolically landmarks, but their spokesman John E. Zuccotti recommended that only the block between 49th and 50th Streets be protected, including the British Empire Building. By contrast, almost everyone else who supported Rockefeller Center's landmark status recommended that the entire complex be landmarked. The LPC granted landmark status to the exteriors of all of the original complex's buildings, as well as the interiors of two lobbies, on April 23, 1985. Rockefeller Center's original buildings also became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Meanwhile, Columbia had agreed to sell the land to the Rockefeller Group for \$400 million in February 1985. The Rockefeller Group formed Rockefeller Center Inc. that July to manage the British Empire Building and other properties. The Hudson-Shatz Painting Company also restored Jennewein's cartouche and gold-leaf figures above the British Empire Building's entrance in 1985, coating these with a 23-karat layer of gold. The Dunhill humidor room, which had operated continuously since the building's opening, was downsized later that year due to increasing rents. During 1987, the roof gardens were restored at a cost of \$48,000 for each garden. Mitsubishi Estate, a real estate company of the Mitsubishi Group, purchased a majority stake in the Rockefeller Group in 1988, including the British Empire Building and Rockefeller Center's other structures. Subsequently, the Rockefeller Group transferred some of the unused air rights above the British Empire Building and La Maison Francaise to the Rockefeller Plaza West skyscraper on Seventh Avenue. In exchange, the Rockefeller Group had to preserve the original buildings between 49th and 50th Streets under a more stringent set of regulations than the rest of the complex.

The Rockefeller Group filed for bankruptcy protection in May 1995 after missing several mortgage payments. That November, John Rockefeller Jr.'s son David and a consortium led by Goldman Sachs agreed to buy Rockefeller Center's buildings for \$1.1 billion, beating out Sam Zell and other bidders. The transaction included \$306 million for the mortgage and \$845 million for other expenses. A preservation dispute arose in May 1998, when the owners announced plans to enlarge shop windows on the center's Fifth Avenue buildings to two stories. The window sizes were reduced upon the LPC's request, and the modifications were approved in September 1998.

### 2000s to present

Tishman Speyer, led by David Rockefeller's close friend Jerry Speyer and the Lester Crown family of Chicago, bought the original 14 buildings and land in December 2000 for \$1.85 billion, including the British Empire Building. Anzac Day celebrations continued to be hosted on the roof through the 21st century. In addition, a Lego Store replaced a Brookstone appliance store in the building in 2010, and teahouse chain TeaGschwendner opened a store the same year. A Victorinox Swiss Army knife store opened in the building in 2016.

In January 2020, Tishman Speyer hired Gabellini Sheppard Associates to design a renovation for Channel Gardens, Rockefeller Plaza, and the Lower Plaza. These plans included modifications to lighting, planting, pathways, and facades, such as the storefronts of La Maison Francaise and the British Empire Building. The plans were approved that April.

Building in Rockefeller Center, New York City


Oregon State Capitol

The Oregon State Capitol is the building housing the state legislature and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, and treasurer of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in the state capital, Salem. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 and expanded in 1977, the current building is the third to house the Oregon state government in Salem. The first two capitols in Salem were destroyed by fire, one in 1855 and the other in 1935.

New York architects Trowbridge & Livingston conceived the current structure's Art Deco stripped classical design in association with Francis Keally. Much of the interior and exterior is made of marble. The Oregon State Capitol was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1988.

The federal government's Public Works Administration partially financed construction which was completed during the Great Depression in 1938. The building was erected at a cost of \$2.5 million for the central portion of the building, which includes a dome of 166 feet (51 m). The wings, which doubled the floor space of the building to about 233,750 square feet (21,716 m2), were added later for \$12.5 million. The grounds outside the capitol building contain artwork, fountains, and flora, including the state tree (Douglas fir) and state flower (Oregon grape).

## History

Before the creation of the Oregon Territory in 1848, the Oregon Country provisional government, through legislation on June 27, 1844, and December 19, 1845, selected Oregon City as Oregon's first capital. J. Quinn Thornton described an early capitol building as 20 by 40 feet with a platform at one end for the president. One of the private buildings this government used was constructed by John L. Morrison in 1850; it served as a capitol until the government moved to Salem. Governor Joseph Lane affirmed Oregon City's status as capital by proclamation. In 1850, the legislature passed an act designating Salem the capital. However, Governor John P. Gaines refused to relocate, on the basis that the same act located the university in Corvallis and the penitentiary in Portland; he declared the act unconstitutional, on the grounds that the authority to locate those institutions was his, and the Territorial Supreme Court concurred; the governor and most of the Supreme Court remained in Oregon City. Justice Orville C. Pratt, who had dissented, relocated to Salem; on May 14, 1852 an act of the United States Congress settled the matter in Salem's favor.

On January 13, 1855, the Oregon Territorial Legislature passed a bill moving the seat of government from Salem to Corvallis. Governor George Law Curry and many others objected to the move, since public buildings in Salem were already under construction. Curry sent the matter to the Secretary of the Treasury in Washington, D.C., where Secretary James Guthrie declared the move invalid unless acted on by the United States Congress. Thereafter, Curry and Oregon Secretary of State Benjamin Harding moved back to Salem.

On December 3, 1855, the legislature convened in Corvallis and quickly introduced legislation to move the capital back to Salem. This bill passed on December 15, 1855. Three days later, the legislature re-convened in Salem. However, the statehouse burned down on the 29th, and the legislature re-opened debate about where to seat the capital. They decided to ask the people of the territory to vote on the question. A vote was to be held in June 1856, after which the two cities receiving the most votes would have a runoff. The initial vote set up a runoff between Eugene and Corvallis, but after some ballots were invalidated due to not being cast in accordance with the law, the two winners were Eugene and Salem. An October runoff gave Eugene the most votes, but the earlier vote-tossing led to a low turnout. With such low public participation, the election was ignored, and the capital remained in Salem.

A permanent resolution of the capital location issue came in 1864. In 1860, the legislature put the question once again to a popular vote. On a vote in 1862, no city received the 50 percent minimum required by law. In an 1864 election, Salem received 79 percent and was declared the state capital. The Oregon Constitution lists the seat of state government in Article XIV as Marion County, of which Salem is the seat.

### First capitol (1855)

The land developed for the permanent capitol buildings was Salem block 84, sold to the state for this purpose by pioneer and Salem founder W. H. Willson. Construction of the first capitol building began in 1854, shortly after Congress confirmed Salem as the capital city. However, with the capital moving to Corvallis the next year, construction was temporarily halted. After the capital's return to Salem, the building was nearly completed by late 1855. This territorial capitol, of Greek Revival-style, stood 50 feet (15 m) wide and 75 feet (23 m) long (15 by 23 m), with a stone facade and a 10-foot (3 m) portico. Built of native ashlar blocks, the exterior walls, two stories high, ranged in color from a deep sky blue to white. The first floor was 19 feet (5.8 m) tall and the second 15 feet (4.6 m) tall with an eight-foot (2.4 m) entablature. The building was decorated with four Ionic columns on the front (west) end. The building housed a variety of rooms, including a federal courthouse with a chamber measuring 20 by 27 feet (6 by 8 m) and an executive office of 18 by 20 ft (5.5 by 6 m) on the first floor. Also on the first floor was the House chamber, measuring 36 by 46 feet (11 by 14 m) and having three entrances. The first floor also held the main hall, which included an entrance 15 feet (5 m) wide. On the second floor was the Senate chamber, 26 by 36 feet (8 by 11 m). Additionally, the Territorial Library was housed in a room that was 20 by 36 feet (6 by 11 m). The second story also had a gallery viewing area for the House, three committee rooms, and several rooms for government clerks. The capitol was designed by Captain Charles Bennet, who participated in the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, and construction supervised by William H. Richter at a total cost of \$25,000.

#### Fire

On the evening of December 29, 1855, a fire destroyed the first capitol building and many of the territory's public records. Starting in the unfinished northeast corner of the structure, still unoccupied by the government, the fire was not discovered until around 12:30 am. Arson was suspected, but no one was arrested.

The site of the burned-out capitol building remained a pile of stones for several years after the fire. A downtown building, Nesmith's Building (later named the Holman Building), served as a temporary capitol from 1859 until 1876. The legislature met on the second and third floors of that building, which also housed the other state offices.

### Second capitol (1876–1935)

Plans for a new building began to take shape in 1872 when the state legislature appropriated \$100,000 (\$  as of 2023) towards a new capitol building. This second capitol, built between 1873 and 1876, was a two-story structure with an additional first level that was partly underground; the total cost was \$325,000 (\$  as of 2023). The cornerstone for the building was laid on October 5, 1873, during a ceremony that included a speech by Governor Stephen F. Chadwick and the music of several bands. Construction, on the same site as the 1855 building, was partly accomplished with convict labor from the Oregon State Penitentiary. Architects Justus F. Krumbein and W.G. Gilbert designed the building.

Built of stone and five million bricks, Oregon's new capitol measured 275 by 136 feet (84 by 41 m) with a dome of 180 feet (55 m). The ground story was of native Oregon sandstone from the Umpqua region. The structure had a square rotunda on the interior that was 54 feet (16 m) tall. Also inside was a Senate chamber measuring 75 by 45 feet (23 by 14 m) and a House chamber of 85 by 75 feet (26 by 23 m). On the top floor was the Oregon Supreme Court with a courtroom measuring 54 by 45 feet (16 by 14 m) and the Oregon State Law Library, 75 by 70 feet (23 by 21 m). Also on the top floor was a viewing gallery for the House. On the exterior were ornamental pilasters and two-story porticos on the east and west ends. The building included a lunch counter. Additionally, the building had mullion-windowed wings. The large copper-clad dome was constructed with an iron and steel framework. This dome rose 54 feet (16 m) above the rest of the building and was 100 feet (30 m) tall. The building was of Renaissance style with Corinthian columns on the front entrance and was patterned after the United States Capitol. At that time, the capitol faced west toward the Willamette River. The government began using the building in August 1876, before the dome was built. Originally, plans called for towers on both sides of the dome (a tower on both ends of the building with the dome in the middle), but they were left out to save money. Oregon's second capitol building stood from 1876 to 1935.

#### 1935 Fire

On April 25, 1935, at 6:43 pm, a custodial engineer called the Salem Fire Department to report smoke. Citizens helped to remove items from the smoky building, but when firefighters arrived, they ordered everyone to leave the structure, which was soon engulfed in flame. Among the helping citizens was twelve-year-old Mark Hatfield, who later became governor of Oregon. The fire was determined to have started in the basement of the east wing and quickly spread to piles of old records stored there. A strong updraft in the hollow columns enclosing the dome's eight supporting steel lattice girders rapidly pulled the flames through the rotunda to the upper stories. The heat was so intense it destroyed even the copper dome and brightly lit the night sky.

The flames could be seen as far away as Corvallis, 40 miles to the southwest. One volunteer firefighter, Floyd McMullen, a student at Willamette University, was killed by the fire, which drew firefighters from as far away as Portland. Salem sent seven fire trucks to the scene; three more came from Portland. Only the outer walls were left standing after the fire was extinguished. Losses were estimated at \$1.5 million (\$  as of 2023), and the state did not carry insurance. The losses, which included historic artifacts such as the portraits of the previous governors, could have been worse had the state not used fire-proof vaults in the basement to store valuables such as more than \$1 million (\$  as of 2023) in stocks and bonds. During the blaze, firefighters poured water on these vaults to help keep them cool and prevent the contents from disintegrating. Years earlier, the state had turned over many historical documents to the Oregon Historical Society in Portland for preservation, and those records were preserved. Although the Supreme Court had moved to the Oregon Supreme Court Building in 1914, the two buildings were connected by tunnels used for electricity and heating. At the time of the fire, the Oregon State Library was in the basement and first floor of the Supreme Court Building. Many books and documents in the basement suffered water damage when water used to fight the fire flooded tunnels and seeped into the Supreme Court Building. Offices previously housed in the capitol were moved temporarily to other government buildings and to leased space in downtown Salem until a new building was built.

### Third capitol (1938–present)

Construction of the newest building began on December 4, 1936. The third state capitol was completed June 18, 1938 and is the fourth-newest capitol in the United States. The capitol was dedicated on October 1, 1938, with speeches from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Leslie M. Scott, Robert W. Sawyer, and Oregon Governor Charles Henry Martin. Chosen from 123 entries in a countrywide competition, the design of the new building deviated from the normal design of state capitol buildings. The design was labeled a combination of Egyptian simplicity and Greek refinement. Overall it is Art Deco in style, and is one of only three state capitols in the United States constructed in that architectural style.

Controversy occurred before construction began when Governor Martin suggested the new building be sited on a hill south of downtown (Candalaria Heights) and away from the busy center of town. Another proposal called for the purchase of the Willamette University campus and relocation of the capitol to that site. However, downtown merchants were able to keep the capitol building in downtown at the original location, though some Victorian homes were subsequently leveled to make way for the building. Another early complaint about the structure was that the cupola resembled a "paint can" rather than traditional domes on other capitols, including the earlier Oregon structures. It was even called a "squirrel cage", lacking in majesty. Additionally, the public was slow to admire the gold Oregon Pioneer atop the dome. Installation of the statue began on September 17, 1938, and took several days and heavy-duty equipment.

The building cost \$2.5 million (\$  as of 2023), of which the federal government paid 45 percent through the Public Works Administration. Upon completion, the new capitol was 164 feet (50 m) wide, 400 feet (120 m) long, and 166 feet (51 m) tall (50 by 122 by 51 m) and contained 131,750 square feet (12,240 m2) of usable space. The exterior was finished with Vermont marble. The lobby, rotunda, and halls were lined with a polished rose travertine stone quarried in Montana. The rotunda's staircases and floor used Phenix Napoleon Grey Marble quarried in Phenix, Missouri, and had borders of Radio Black marble that, like the exterior stone, is from Vermont. There are 158 names of notable Oregonians inscribed on the walls of the legislative chambers; of these, only six are women. The original cost estimate for the building was \$3.5 million (\$  as of 2023), but the state legislature only appropriated \$2.5 million; committee rooms were subsequently removed from the plans. These rooms were added in 1977 as part of a \$12.5 million (\$  as of 2023) expansion project to add new wings containing legislative offices, hearing rooms, support services, a first floor galleria, and underground parking. This addition doubled the space of the capitol building. In 2002, the wings were remodeled at a cost of \$1.3 million (\$  as of 2023) to upgrade items such as antiquated wiring and to install new carpeting and lighting.

On March 25, 1993, the magnitude 5.6 Scotts Mills earthquake damaged the dome, requiring closure for repairs. The rotunda area remained closed for approximately two years for these repairs. This "Spring Break Quake" shook the building enough to shift the statue on top and crack the dome. Additionally, the quake created a three-foot (one-meter) bulge on the west end of the building. Repairs cost \$4.3 million (\$  as of 2023) and included reinforcing the structure with additional concrete and steel bars.

In April 2002, the building became the first state capitol in the United States to produce solar power through the use of 60 photovoltaic panels generating 7.8 kilowatts. One-third of the power is used to light the Oregon Pioneer at night; the remaining electricity is sent into the power grid.

On December 31, 2007, the Oregon State Capitol hosted its first authorized wedding between Oregon State Representative Tobias Read and Heidi Eggert. At Read's encouragement, the Legislature created a policy authorizing up to four public events a year. On August 30, 2008, the building caught fire around 12:30 in the morning and was quickly extinguished with damage to the Governor's offices on the second floor on the south side. The governor was forced to relocate some of his offices, including some time at the Oregon State Library across the street.

During a special session in December 2020, armed protesters demonstrated at the capitol against health restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon. In January 2021, a security video was released showing Representative Mike Nearman allowing protesters to enter the Capitol Building. As a result of his action, Nearman pleaded guilty to one count of official misconduct in the first degree and the Oregon House of Representatives voted 59–1 to expel him on the grounds of "disorderly behavior."

## Exterior and interior

The Oregon State Capitol is home to both branches of the state legislature, the House and Senate, and has offices for the governor, treasurer, and the secretary of state. In its center, the floor of the prominent rotunda features an embedded Oregon State Seal sculpted in bronze by Ulric Ellerhusen. Ellerhusen also sculpted the Oregon Pioneer that rests atop the capitol dome's exterior. The dome rises 106 feet (32 m) above the state seal. The interior of the dome was painted by Frank H. Schwarz and features 33 stars, symbolizing Oregon's place as the 33rd state to join the Union. Eight medallions are painted near the top of the walls of the rotunda that represent the eight objects in the state seal. An inscription on the rotunda south wall, facing the entrance from the north, reads:

> In the souls of its citizens will be found the likeness of the state which if they be unjust and tyrannical then will it reflect their vices, but if they be lovers of righteousness confident in their liberties so will it be clean in justice bold in freedom.

Also encircling the interior of the rotunda are four murals depicting moments from Oregon history. One mural depicts Captain Robert Gray's exploration of the Columbia River in 1792, another shows the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and two others portray covered wagons from pioneer times. These four murals were painted by Schwarz and Barry Faulkner. Other murals include the Provisional Government of Oregon's salmon and wheat seal, the Oregon Territory's seal, and depictions of Oregon's industries, all located in the rotunda's wings along the grand staircase. The capitol's galleria area on the first floor includes hearing rooms, display cases, and the visitor information area.

Oregon's House chamber floor is covered with a custom carpet; the carpet's pattern incorporates a depiction of the state tree, the Douglas-fir, representative of forestry. The furniture and paneling of the chamber is made of golden oak. A large mural painted by Faulkner, depicting the 1843 Champoeg Meetings at which the provisional government was formed, is behind the desk of the Speaker of the House. The Senate chambers use black walnut for the paneling and furniture. Another custom carpet lines the floor, featuring Chinook salmon and wheat, representative of fishing and agriculture. The Senate's large mural was painted by Schwarz and depicts a street scene showing news of statehood reaching Salem. Lining the walls of both chambers are 158 names, inscribed in friezes, of prominent people in Oregon's history. On the second floor of the capitol is the Governor's suite, consisting of a ceremonial office and private offices for the state's chief executive. As in the Senate chamber, the paneling is of black walnut. The ceremonial office includes a fireplace with a painting by Faulkner. In the suite's reception area is a table made of 40 tree species. This table is inlaid with a replica of Oregon's second capitol building, the state flower (Oregon-grape), and the state bird (western meadowlark).

A variety of artwork is displayed on the exterior of the building. Sculptor Leo Friedlander used Vermont marble for the large relief sculptures on both sides of the main entrance. One sculpture depicts Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Sacagawea, with a map of their expedition's route on the reverse (Lewis and Clark); the other (Covered Wagon) shows pioneers and a covered wagon, with a map of the Oregon Trail on the reverse. Additionally, Ellerhusen created five marble relief sculptures on the exterior, and a metal sculpture by Tom Morandi sits above the south entrance. Ellerhusen also cast six bronze sculptures arranged above the building's main entrance, three on the inside and three on the outside.

The building measures 693 by 259.5 ft (211.2 by 79.1 m). The older main portion of the building is 53.5 feet (16.3 m) tall, while the newer wings added in 1977 are 68.7 feet (20.9 m) tall. Inside, the building has approximately 233,750 square feet (21,716 m2) of floor area and 3.2 million cubic feet (90,600 cubic meters) of volume.

In 1997, the Legislative Assembly established the non-profit Oregon State Capitol Foundation in order to "create a living history, enhance the dignity and beauty of the Capitol, and foster cultural and educational opportunities." In 2005, the foundation completed the Walk of the Flags project, a display in Willson Park on the capitol grounds of all 50 flags of the U.S. states.

In 2007, the capitol wings closed for a restoration project to upgrade items such as furniture, plumbing, and electrical systems. The \$34 million project became an issue in the 2008 Senate campaign between Gordon Smith and Jeff Merkley when Smith used the price of the project in ads attacking Merkley who was the Speaker of the Oregon House when the remodel was approved. Part of the attack involved the cost of new desks for legislators and staff that were manufactured by Oregon prison inmates. Renovations were completed in November 2008.

## Grounds

The capitol grounds cover three city blocks and include Willson and Capitol parks. Near the west entrance of the capitol is a replica of Philadelphia's Liberty Bell. This bell is one of 53 full-sized replicas made in France and donated by the United States government to each state. Oregon received its copy on July 4, 1950. Throughout the grounds are native trees and shrubs, including blue spruce, Oregon-grape (the state flower), giant sequoia, coast redwood, Japanese maple, dogwood species, Bradford pear, cherry tree species, English holly, rhododendron, and magnolia tree species. One Douglas-fir tree was grown using a seed that rode aboard Apollo 14 to the Moon in 1971 and was transplanted to the capitol in 1976 from Oregon State University.

### East Capitol Park

On the east side of the building is Capitol Park, which includes a bronze equestrian statue by A. Phimister Proctor called The Circuit Rider, statues of Jason Lee (Jason Lee) and John McLoughlin (John McLoughlin) by Gifford Proctor, and portions of the Corinthian columns of the second capitol building. Lee established the Methodist Mission and what would become Willamette University. McLoughlin, of the Hudson's Bay Company, was proclaimed the Father of Oregon. The Circuit Rider was added in 1924 as a monument to early preachers. During the Columbus Day Storm in 1962, this statue was knocked over and damaged but restored in 1963. There is also a memorial to Oregon's recipients of the Medal of Honor, dedicated on September 18, 2004.

### West Willson Park

To the west of the building is Willson Park, named for Salem founder William H. Willson and sited roughly at the center of his former landholdings. From 1853 to 1965 it was a Salem city park. After the park was turned over to the state, Lloyd Bond and Associates were asked to redesign the park. Willson Park features the Oregon World War II Memorial, the Waite Fountain, a gazebo built in 1982, and Peter Helzer's sculpture, A Parade of Animals (1991), which was designed as a play structure. Waite Fountain was donated in honor of Oregon businessperson E. M. Waite in 1907 by his wife. The Breyman Fountain, added in 1904 as a memorial to Werner and Eugene Breyman, is at the far west end of the park. It was originally decorated with a statue of a soldier from the Spanish–American War and also served as a lamp post and horse trough. Today the statue holds no water and is sometimes planted with flowers. In 2005, a Walk of Flags feature was added that displays the flags of every state in the Union. In 2009, the nine flags of Oregon's federally recognized Native American tribes were added to the Walk of Flags.

Other features on the capitol grounds include Sprague Fountain and the Wall of Water. The Wall of Water is located across Court Street from the main entrance. It was added in 1990 and has 22 nozzles shooting water 12 feet (3.7 m) into the air in a plaza that also has slabs of stone with information about Oregon's history. Added in 1985, the Capitol Beaver Family sculpture represents the state animal. Additional features of the grounds include a peace pole donated by the Society of Prayer for World Peace, a large boulder that once lay along the Oregon Trail, a planter that spells out "Oregon" using shrubs, and a rose garden maintained by the Salem Rose Society.

## See also

- List of state and territorial capitols in the United States
- List of capitals in the United States for information on the other locations of the Oregon capital
- Government of Oregon

State capitol building of the U.S. state of Oregon

Buildings and structures in Salem, Oregon

Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon

National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Oregon


Butterfly

Butterflies (Rhopalocera) are insects that have large, often brightly coloured wings, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises the superfamilies Hedyloidea (moth-butterflies in the Americas) and Papilionoidea (all others). The oldest butterfly fossils have been dated to the Paleocene, about 56 million years ago, though they may have originated earlier.

Butterflies have a four-stage life cycle, as like other holometabolan insects they undergo complete metamorphosis. Winged adults lay eggs on the food plant on which their larvae, known as caterpillars, will feed. The caterpillars grow, sometimes very rapidly, and when fully developed, pupate in a chrysalis. When metamorphosis is complete, the pupal skin splits, the adult insect climbs out, expands its wings to dry, and flies off.

Some butterflies, especially in the tropics, have several generations in a year, while others have a single generation, and a few in cold locations may take several years to pass through their entire life cycle.

Butterflies are often polymorphic, and many species make use of camouflage, mimicry, and aposematism to evade their predators. Some, like the monarch and the painted lady, migrate over long distances. Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids, including wasps, protozoans, flies, and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants. Larvae of a few butterflies (e.g., harvesters) eat harmful insects, and a few are predators of ants, while others live as mutualists in association with ants. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. The Smithsonian Institution says "butterflies are certainly one of the most appealing creatures in nature".

## Etymology

The Oxford English Dictionary derives the word straightforwardly from Old English butorflēoge, butter-fly; similar names in Old Dutch and Old High German show that the name is ancient, but modern Dutch and German use different words (vlinder and Schmetterling) and the common name often varies substantially between otherwise closely related languages. A possible source of the name is the bright yellow male of the brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni); another is that butterflies were on the wing in meadows during the spring and summer butter season while the grass was growing.

## Paleontology

The earliest Lepidoptera fossils date to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, around 200 million years ago. Butterflies evolved from moths, so while the butterflies are monophyletic (forming a single clade), the moths are not. The oldest known butterfly is Protocoeliades kristenseni from the Palaeocene aged Fur Formation of Denmark, approximately 55 million years old, which belongs to the family Hesperiidae (skippers). Molecular clock estimates suggest that butterflies originated sometime in the mid-Cretaceous, but only significantly diversified during the Cenozoic, with one study suggesting a North American origin for the group. The oldest American butterfly is the Late Eocene Prodryas persephone from the Florissant Fossil Beds, approximately 34 million years old.

## Taxonomy and phylogeny

Butterflies are scientifically classified in the macrolepidopteran suborder clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Traditionally, butterflies have been divided into the superfamily Papilionoidea excluding the smaller groups of the Hesperiidae (skippers) and the more moth-like Hedylidae of America. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the traditional Papilionoidea is paraphyletic with respect to the other two groups, so they should both be included within Papilionoidea, to form a single butterfly group, thereby synonymous with the clade Rhopalocera.

## Biology

### General description

Butterfly adults are characterized by their four scale-covered wings, which give the Lepidoptera their name (Ancient Greek λεπίς lepís, scale + πτερόν pterón, wing). These scales give butterfly wings their colour: they are pigmented with melanins that give them blacks and browns, as well as uric acid derivatives and flavones that give them yellows, but many of the blues, greens, reds and iridescent colours are created by structural coloration produced by the micro-structures of the scales and hairs.

As in all insects, the body is divided into three sections: the head, thorax, and abdomen. The thorax is composed of three segments, each with a pair of legs. In most families of butterfly the antennae are clubbed, unlike those of moths which may be threadlike or feathery. The long proboscis can be coiled when not in use for sipping nectar from flowers.

Nearly all butterflies are diurnal, have relatively bright colours, and hold their wings vertically above their bodies when at rest, unlike the majority of moths which fly by night, are often cryptically coloured (well camouflaged), and either hold their wings flat (touching the surface on which the moth is standing) or fold them closely over their bodies. Some day-flying moths, such as the hummingbird hawk-moth, are exceptions to these rules.

Butterfly larvae, caterpillars, have a hard (sclerotised) head with strong mandibles used for cutting their food, most often leaves. They have cylindrical bodies, with ten segments to the abdomen, generally with short prolegs on segments 3–6 and 10; the three pairs of true legs on the thorax have five segments each. Many are well camouflaged; others are aposematic with bright colours and bristly projections containing toxic chemicals obtained from their food plants. The pupa or chrysalis, unlike that of moths, is not wrapped in a cocoon.

Many butterflies are sexually dimorphic. Most butterflies have the ZW sex-determination system where females are the heterogametic sex (ZW) and males homogametic (ZZ).

### Distribution and migration

Butterflies are distributed worldwide except Antarctica, totalling some 18,500 species. Of these, 775 are Nearctic; 7,700 Neotropical; 1,575 Palearctic; 3,650 Afrotropical; and 4,800 are distributed across the combined Oriental and Australian/Oceania regions. The monarch butterfly is native to the Americas, but in the nineteenth century or before, spread across the world, and is now found in Australia, New Zealand, other parts of Oceania, and the Iberian Peninsula. It is not clear how it dispersed; adults may have been blown by the wind or larvae or pupae may have been accidentally transported by humans, but the presence of suitable host plants in their new environment was a necessity for their successful establishment.

Many butterflies, such as the painted lady, monarch, and several danaine migrate for long distances. These migrations take place over a number of generations and no single individual completes the whole trip. The eastern North American population of monarchs can travel thousands of miles south-west to overwintering sites in Mexico. There is a reverse migration in the spring. It has recently been shown that the British painted lady undertakes a 9,000-mile round trip in a series of steps by up to six successive generations, from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle — almost double the length of the famous migrations undertaken by monarch. Spectacular large-scale migrations associated with the monsoon are seen in peninsular India. Migrations have been studied in more recent times using wing tags and also using stable hydrogen isotopes.

Butterflies navigate using a time-compensated sun compass. They can see polarized light and therefore orient even in cloudy conditions. The polarized light near the ultraviolet spectrum appears to be particularly important. Many migratory butterflies live in semi-arid areas where breeding seasons are short. The life histories of their host plants also influence butterfly behaviour.

### Life cycle

Butterflies in their adult stage can live from a week to nearly a year depending on the species. Many species have long larval life stages while others can remain dormant in their pupal or egg stages and thereby survive winters. The Melissa Arctic (Oeneis melissa) overwinters twice as a caterpillar. Butterflies may have one or more broods per year. The number of generations per year varies from temperate to tropical regions with tropical regions showing a trend towards multivoltinism.

Courtship is often aerial and often involves pheromones. Butterflies then land on the ground or on a perch to mate. Copulation takes place tail-to-tail and may last from minutes to hours. Simple photoreceptor cells located at the genitals are important for this and other adult behaviours. The male passes a spermatophore to the female; to reduce sperm competition, he may cover her with his scent, or in some species such as the Apollos (Parnassius) plugs her genital opening to prevent her from mating again.

The vast majority of butterflies have a four-stage life cycle: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and imago (adult). In the genera Colias, Erebia, Euchloe, and Parnassius, a small number of species are known that reproduce semi-parthenogenetically; when the female dies, a partially developed larva emerges from her abdomen.

#### Eggs

Butterfly eggs are protected by a hard-ridged outer layer of shell, called the chorion. This is lined with a thin coating of wax which prevents the egg from drying out before the larva has had time to fully develop. Each egg contains a number of tiny funnel-shaped openings at one end, called micropyles; the purpose of these holes is to allow sperm to enter and fertilize the egg. Butterfly eggs vary greatly in size and shape between species, but are usually upright and finely sculptured. Some species lay eggs singly, others in batches. Many females produce between one hundred and two hundred eggs.

Butterfly eggs are fixed to a leaf with a special glue which hardens rapidly. As it hardens it contracts, deforming the shape of the egg. This glue is easily seen surrounding the base of every egg forming a meniscus. The nature of the glue has been little researched but in the case of Pieris brassicae, it begins as a pale yellow granular secretion containing acidophilic proteins. This is viscous and darkens when exposed to air, becoming a water-insoluble, rubbery material which soon sets solid. Butterflies in the genus Agathymus do not fix their eggs to a leaf, instead the newly laid eggs fall to the base of the plant.

Eggs are almost invariably laid on plants. Each species of butterfly has its own host plant range and while some species of butterfly are restricted to just one species of plant, others use a range of plant species, often including members of a common family. In some species, such as the great spangled fritillary, the eggs are deposited close to but not on the food plant. This most likely happens when the egg overwinters before hatching and where the host plant loses its leaves in winter, as do violets in this example.

The egg stage lasts a few weeks in most butterflies, but eggs laid close to winter, especially in temperate regions, go through a diapause (resting) stage, and the hatching may take place only in spring. Some temperate region butterflies, such as the Camberwell beauty, lay their eggs in the spring and have them hatch in the summer.

#### Caterpillar larva

Butterfly larvae, or caterpillars, consume plant leaves and spend practically all of their time searching for and eating food. Although most caterpillars are herbivorous, a few species are predators: Spalgis epius eats scale insects, while lycaenids such as Liphyra brassolis are myrmecophilous, eating ant larvae.

Some larvae, especially those of the Lycaenidae, form mutual associations with ants. They communicate with the ants using vibrations that are transmitted through the substrate as well as using chemical signals. The ants provide some degree of protection to these larvae and they in turn gather honeydew secretions. Large blue (Phengaris arion) caterpillars trick Myrmica ants into taking them back to the ant colony where they feed on the ant eggs and larvae in a parasitic relationship.

Caterpillars mature through a series of developmental stages known as instars. Near the end of each stage, the larva undergoes a process called apolysis, mediated by the release of a series of neurohormones. During this phase, the cuticle, a tough outer layer made of a mixture of chitin and specialized proteins, is released from the softer epidermis beneath, and the epidermis begins to form a new cuticle. At the end of each instar, the larva moults, the old cuticle splits and the new cuticle expands, rapidly hardening and developing pigment. Development of butterfly wing patterns begins by the last larval instar.

Caterpillars have short antennae and several simple eyes. The mouthparts are adapted for chewing with powerful mandibles and a pair of maxillae, each with a segmented palp. Adjoining these is the labium-hypopharynx which houses a tubular spinneret which is able to extrude silk. Caterpillars such as those in the genus Calpodes (family Hesperiidae) have a specialized tracheal system on the 8th segment that function as a primitive lung. Butterfly caterpillars have three pairs of true legs on the thoracic segments and up to six pairs of prolegs arising from the abdominal segments. These prolegs have rings of tiny hooks called crochets that are engaged hydrostatically and help the caterpillar grip the substrate. The epidermis bears tufts of setae, the position and number of which help in identifying the species. There is also decoration in the form of hairs, wart-like protuberances, horn-like protuberances and spines. Internally, most of the body cavity is taken up by the gut, but there may also be large silk glands, and special glands which secrete distasteful or toxic substances. The developing wings are present in later stage instars and the gonads start development in the egg stage.

#### Pupa

When the larva is fully grown, hormones such as prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) are produced. At this point the larva stops feeding, and begins "wandering" in the quest for a suitable pupation site, often the underside of a leaf or other concealed location. There it spins a button of silk which it uses to fasten its body to the surface and moults for a final time. While some caterpillars spin a cocoon to protect the pupa, most species do not. The naked pupa, often known as a chrysalis, usually hangs head down from the cremaster, a spiny pad at the posterior end, but in some species a silken girdle may be spun to keep the pupa in a head-up position. Most of the tissues and cells of the larva are broken down inside the pupa, as the constituent material is rebuilt into the imago. The structure of the transforming insect is visible from the exterior, with the wings folded flat on the ventral surface and the two halves of the proboscis, with the antennae and the legs between them.

The pupal transformation into a butterfly through metamorphosis has held great appeal to mankind. To transform from the miniature wings visible on the outside of the pupa into large structures usable for flight, the pupal wings undergo rapid mitosis and absorb a great deal of nutrients. If one wing is surgically removed early on, the other three will grow to a larger size. In the pupa, the wing forms a structure that becomes compressed from top to bottom and pleated from proximal to distal ends as it grows, so that it can rapidly be unfolded to its full adult size. Several boundaries seen in the adult colour pattern are marked by changes in the expression of particular transcription factors in the early pupa.

#### Adult

The reproductive stage of the insect is the winged adult or imago. The surface of both butterflies and moths is covered by scales, each of which is an outgrowth from a single epidermal cell. The head is small and dominated by the two large compound eyes. These are capable of distinguishing flower shapes or motion but cannot view distant objects clearly. Colour perception is good, especially in some species in the blue/violet range. The antennae are composed of many segments and have clubbed tips (unlike moths that have tapering or feathery antennae). The sensory receptors are concentrated in the tips and can detect odours. Taste receptors are located on the palps and on the feet. The mouthparts are adapted to sucking and the mandibles are usually reduced in size or absent. The first maxillae are elongated into a tubular proboscis which is curled up at rest and expanded when needed to feed. The first and second maxillae bear palps which function as sensory organs. Some species have a reduced proboscis or maxillary palps and do not feed as adults.

Many Heliconius butterflies also use their proboscis to feed on pollen; in these species only 20% of the amino acids used in reproduction come from larval feeding, which allow them to develop more quickly as caterpillars, and gives them a longer lifespan of several months as adults.

The thorax of the butterfly is devoted to locomotion. Each of the three thoracic segments has two legs (among nymphalids, the first pair is reduced and the insects walk on four legs). The second and third segments of the thorax bear the wings. The leading edges of the forewings have thick veins to strengthen them, and the hindwings are smaller and more rounded and have fewer stiffening veins. The forewings and hindwings are not hooked together (as they are in moths) but are coordinated by the friction of their overlapping parts. The front two segments have a pair of spiracles which are used in respiration.

The abdomen consists of ten segments and contains the gut and genital organs. The front eight segments have spiracles and the terminal segment is modified for reproduction. The male has a pair of clasping organs attached to a ring structure, and during copulation, a tubular structure is extruded and inserted into the female's vagina. A spermatophore is deposited in the female, following which the sperm make their way to a seminal receptacle where they are stored for later use. In both sexes, the genitalia are adorned with various spines, teeth, scales and bristles, which act to prevent the butterfly from mating with an insect of another species. After it emerges from its pupal stage, a butterfly cannot fly until the wings are unfolded. A newly emerged butterfly needs to spend some time inflating its wings with hemolymph and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators.

#### Pattern formation

The colorful patterns on many butterfly wings tell potential predators that they are toxic. Hence, the genetic basis of wing pattern formation can illuminate both the evolution of butterflies as well as their developmental biology. The color of butterfly wings is derived from tiny structures called scales, each of which have their own pigments. In Heliconius butterflies, there are three types of scales: yellow/white, black, and red/orange/brown scales. Some mechanism of wing pattern formation are now being solved using genetic techniques. For instance, a gene called cortex determines the color of scales: deleting cortex turned black and red scales yellow. Mutations, e.g. transposon insertions of the non-coding DNA around the cortex gene can turn a black-winged butterfly into a butterfly with a yellow wing band.

### Behaviour

Butterflies feed primarily on nectar from flowers. Some also derive nourishment from pollen, tree sap, rotting fruit, dung, decaying flesh, and dissolved minerals in wet sand or dirt. Butterflies are important as pollinators for some species of plants. In general, they do not carry as much pollen load as bees, but they are capable of moving pollen over greater distances. Flower constancy has been observed for at least one species of butterfly.

Adult butterflies consume only liquids, ingested through the proboscis. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers, from which they obtain sugars for energy, and sodium and other minerals vital for reproduction. Several species of butterflies need more sodium than that provided by nectar and are attracted by sodium in salt; they sometimes land on people, attracted by the salt in human sweat. Some butterflies also visit dung and scavenge rotting fruit or carcasses to obtain minerals and nutrients. In many species, this mud-puddling behaviour is restricted to the males, and studies have suggested that the nutrients collected may be provided as a nuptial gift, along with the spermatophore, during mating.

In hilltopping, males of some species seek hilltops and ridge tops, which they patrol in search for females. Since it usually occurs in species with low population density, it is assumed these landscape points are used as meeting places to find mates.

Butterflies use their antennae to sense the air for wind and scents. The antennae come in various shapes and colours; the hesperiids have a pointed angle or hook to the antennae, while most other families show knobbed antennae. The antennae are richly covered with sensory organs known as sensillae. A butterfly's sense of taste is coordinated by chemoreceptors on the tarsi, or feet, which work only on contact, and are used to determine whether an egg-laying insect's offspring will be able to feed on a leaf before eggs are laid on it. Many butterflies use chemical signals, pheromones; some have specialized scent scales (androconia) or other structures (coremata or "hair pencils" in the Danaidae). Vision is well developed in butterflies and most species are sensitive to the ultraviolet spectrum. Many species show sexual dimorphism in the patterns of UV reflective patches. Colour vision may be widespread but has been demonstrated in only a few species. Some butterflies have organs of hearing and some species make stridulatory and clicking sounds.

Many species of butterfly maintain territories and actively chase other species or individuals that may stray into them. Some species will bask or perch on chosen perches. The flight styles of butterflies are often characteristic and some species have courtship flight displays. Butterflies can only fly when their temperature is above 27 °C (81 °F); when it is cool, they can position themselves to expose the underside of the wings to the sunlight to heat themselves up. If their body temperature reaches 40 °C (104 °F), they can orientate themselves with the folded wings edgewise to the sun. Basking is an activity which is more common in the cooler hours of the morning. Some species have evolved dark wingbases to help in gathering more heat and this is especially evident in alpine forms.

As in many other insects, the lift generated by butterflies is more than can be accounted for by steady-state, non-transitory aerodynamics. Studies using Vanessa atalanta in a wind tunnel show that they use a wide variety of aerodynamic mechanisms to generate force. These include wake capture, vortices at the wing edge, rotational mechanisms and the Weis-Fogh 'clap-and-fling' mechanism. Butterflies are able to change from one mode to another rapidly.

### Ecology

#### Parasitoids, predators, and pathogens

Butterflies are threatened in their early stages by parasitoids and in all stages by predators, diseases and environmental factors. Braconid and other parasitic wasps lay their eggs in lepidopteran eggs or larvae and the wasps' parasitoid larvae devour their hosts, usually pupating inside or outside the desiccated husk. Most wasps are very specific about their host species and some have been used as biological controls of pest butterflies like the large white butterfly. When the small cabbage white was accidentally introduced to New Zealand, it had no natural enemies. In order to control it, some pupae that had been parasitised by a chalcid wasp were imported, and natural control was thus regained. Some flies lay their eggs on the outside of caterpillars and the newly hatched fly larvae bore their way through the skin and feed in a similar way to the parasitoid wasp larvae. Predators of butterflies include ants, spiders, wasps, and birds.

Caterpillars are also affected by a range of bacterial, viral and fungal diseases, and only a small percentage of the butterfly eggs laid ever reach adulthood. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has been used in sprays to reduce damage to crops by the caterpillars of the large white butterfly, and the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has proved effective for the same purpose.

#### Endangered species

Queen Alexandra's birdwing, found in Papua New Guinea, is the largest butterfly in the world. The species is endangered, and is one of only three insects (the other two being butterflies as well) to be listed on Appendix I of CITES, making international trade illegal.

Black grass-dart butterfly (Ocybadistes knightorum) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is endemic to New South Wales. It has a very limited distribution in the Boambee area.

#### Defences

Butterflies protect themselves from predators by a variety of means.

Chemical defences are widespread and are mostly based on chemicals of plant origin. In many cases the plants themselves evolved these toxic substances as protection against herbivores. Butterflies have evolved mechanisms to sequester these plant toxins and use them instead in their own defence. These defence mechanisms are effective only if they are well advertised; this has led to the evolution of bright colours in unpalatable butterflies (aposematism). This signal is commonly mimicked by other butterflies, usually only females. A Batesian mimic imitates another species to enjoy the protection of that species' aposematism. The common Mormon of India has female morphs which imitate the unpalatable red-bodied swallowtails, the common rose and the crimson rose. Müllerian mimicry occurs when aposematic species evolve to resemble each other, presumably to reduce predator sampling rates; Heliconius butterflies from the Americas are a good example.

Camouflage is found in many butterflies. Some like the oakleaf butterfly and autumn leaf are remarkable imitations of leaves. As caterpillars, many defend themselves by freezing and appearing like sticks or branches. Others have deimatic behaviours, such as rearing up and waving their front ends which are marked with eyespots as if they were snakes. Some papilionid caterpillars such as the giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) resemble bird droppings so as to be passed over by predators. Some caterpillars have hairs and bristly structures that provide protection while others are gregarious and form dense aggregations. Some species are myrmecophiles, forming mutualistic associations with ants and gaining their protection. Behavioural defences include perching and angling the wings to reduce shadow and avoid being conspicuous. Some female Nymphalid butterflies guard their eggs from parasitoidal wasps.

The Lycaenidae have a false head consisting of eyespots and small tails (false antennae) to deflect attack from the more vital head region. These may also cause ambush predators such as spiders to approach from the wrong end, enabling the butterflies to detect attacks promptly. Many butterflies have eyespots on the wings; these too may deflect attacks, or may serve to attract mates.

Auditory defences can also be used, which in the case of the grizzled skipper refers to vibrations generated by the butterfly upon expanding its wings in an attempt to communicate with ant predators.

Many tropical butterflies have seasonal forms for dry and wet seasons. These are switched by the hormone ecdysone. The dry-season forms are usually more cryptic, perhaps offering better camouflage when vegetation is scarce. Dark colours in wet-season forms may help to absorb solar radiation.

Butterflies without defences such as toxins or mimicry protect themselves through a flight that is more bumpy and unpredictable than in other species. It is assumed this behavior makes it more difficult for predators to catch them, and is caused by the turbulence created by the small whirlpools formed by the wings during flight.

## Declining numbers

Declining butterfly populations have been noticed in many areas of the world, and this phenomenon is consistent with the rapidly decreasing insect populations around the world. At least in the Western United States, this collapse in the number of most species of butterflies has been determined to be driven by global climate change, specifically, by warmer autumns.

## In culture

### In art and literature

Butterflies have appeared in art from 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt. In the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, the brilliantly coloured image of the butterfly was carved into many temples, buildings, jewellery, and emblazoned on incense burners. The butterfly was sometimes depicted with the maw of a jaguar, and some species were considered to be the reincarnations of the souls of dead warriors. The close association of butterflies with fire and warfare persisted into the Aztec civilisation; evidence of similar jaguar-butterfly images has been found among the Zapotec and Maya civilisations.

Butterflies are widely used in objects of art and jewellery: mounted in frames, embedded in resin, displayed in bottles, laminated in paper, and used in some mixed media artworks and furnishings. The Norwegian naturalist Kjell Sandved compiled a photographic Butterfly Alphabet containing all 26 letters and the numerals 0 to 9 from the wings of butterflies.

Sir John Tenniel drew a famous illustration of Alice meeting a caterpillar for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, c. 1865. The caterpillar is seated on a toadstool and is smoking a hookah; the image can be read as showing either the forelegs of the larva, or as suggesting a face with protruding nose and chin. Eric Carle's children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar portrays the larva as an extraordinarily hungry animal, while also teaching children how to count (to five) and the days of the week.

A butterfly appeared in one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, "The Butterfly that Stamped".

One of the most popular, and most often recorded, songs by Sweden's eighteenth-century bard, Carl Michael Bellman, is "Fjäriln vingad syns på Haga" (The butterfly wingèd is seen in Haga), one of his Fredman's Songs.

Madam Butterfly is a 1904 opera by Giacomo Puccini about a romantic young Japanese bride who is deserted by her American officer husband soon after they are married. It was based on John Luther Long's short story written in 1898.

### In mythology and folklore

According to Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly was seen in Japan as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guest room and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. Large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing his famous revolt, a vast a swarm of butterflies appeared in Kyoto. The people were frightened, thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.

Diderot's Encyclopédie cites butterflies as a symbol for the soul. A Roman sculpture depicts a butterfly exiting the mouth of a dead man, representing the Roman belief that the soul leaves through the mouth. In line with this, the ancient Greek word for "butterfly" is ψυχή (psȳchē), which primarily means "soul" or "mind". According to Mircea Eliade, some of the Nagas of Manipur claim ancestry from a butterfly. In some cultures, butterflies symbolise rebirth. The butterfly is a symbol of being transgender, because of the transformation from caterpillar to winged adult. In the English county of Devon, people once hurried to kill the first butterfly of the year, to avoid a year of bad luck. In the Philippines, a lingering black or dark butterfly or moth in the house is taken to mean an impending or recent death in the family. Several American states have chosen an official state butterfly.

### Collecting, recording, and rearing

"Collecting" means preserving dead specimens, not keeping butterflies as pets. Collecting butterflies was once a popular hobby; it has now largely been replaced by photography, recording, and rearing butterflies for release into the wild. The zoological illustrator Frederick William Frohawk succeeded in rearing all the butterfly species found in Britain, at a rate of four per year, to enable him to draw every stage of each species. He published the results in the folio sized handbook The Natural History of British Butterflies in 1924.

Butterflies and moths can be reared for recreation or for release.

### In technology

Study of the structural coloration of the wing scales of swallowtail butterflies has led to the development of more efficient light-emitting diodes, and is inspiring nanotechnology research to produce paints that do not use toxic pigments and the development of new display technologies.

Group of insects in the order Lepidoptera


Pattie Boyd

Patricia Anne Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harrison in 1966, experiencing the height of the Beatles' popularity and sharing in their embrace of Indian spirituality. She divorced Harrison in 1977 and married Harrison's friend Eric Clapton in 1979; they divorced in 1989. Boyd inspired Harrison's song "Something", and Clapton's songs "Layla", "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight".

In August 2007, Boyd published her autobiography Wonderful Today (titled Wonderful Tonight in the United States). Her photographs of Harrison and Clapton, titled Through the Eye of a Muse, have been widely exhibited.

## Early life

Boyd was born on 17 March 1944 in Taunton, Somerset, the first child of Colin ("Jock") Ian Langdon Boyd and Diana Frances Boyd (née Drysdale). The Boyds moved to West Lothian in Scotland, where her brother, Colin, was born in 1946. They then moved to Guildford, Surrey, where her sister Jenny was born in 1947. After Jock's discharge from the Royal Air Force, the Boyds lived in Nairobi from 1948 to 1953. Boyd's youngest sister, Paula, was born at a hospital in Nakuru, Kenya, in 1951.

From the age of eight, Boyd boarded at Nakuru School near Nairobi. During a half-term break, she returned home and was shocked to learn that her parents had divorced. In December 1953, she and her siblings moved to England with Diana and her new husband, Bobbie Gaymer-Jones. With her mother's second marriage, Boyd gained two half-brothers, David (b. 1954) and Robert ("Boo"; b. 1955). Many years later, she learned that she had two half-sisters through Jock's second marriage: Clare (1962–2018) and Julia (b. 1964).

Boyd briefly attended Hazeldean School in Putney, and then the St Agnes and St Michael Convent Boarding School in East Grinstead, and St Martha's Convent in Hadley Wood, Hertfordshire. She achieved three GCE O level passes in 1961. She moved to London the same year and through her mother found work as a trainee beautician, age seventeen, at Elizabeth Arden's Bond Street salon. A client who worked for Honey magazine then inspired her to join an agency and begin work as a fashion model.

## Career

### Modeling

Boyd began her fashion career in 1962, modeling at first in London and Paris. Among her regular assignments at that time were jobs for the UK edition of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Elle in France, and Honey, as well as fashion spreads in newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph and The Times. She was photographed by David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, among others, and appeared on the cover of British Vogue. Other popular models of the day, such as Twiggy, based their modeling appearance on Boyd. In the description of journalist Tom Hibbert, Boyd and Jean Shrimpton became "international celebrities" as the embodiment of the "British female 'look' – mini-skirt, long, straight hair and wide-eyed loveliness". This look defined Western fashion for women as a result of the international popularity of the Beatles and other British Invasion musical acts from 1964 onwards. In her autobiography, Boyd recalls being known as the muse to designer Ossie Clark, who used to call some of his designs "Pattie".

In early 1964, Boyd appeared in a television advertising campaign for Smith's crisps, directed by Richard Lester. Lester then cast her as a schoolgirl in the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, where she met and befriended the group's lead guitarist, George Harrison. Boyd's modelling career skyrocketed as a result of her subsequent romantic involvement with Harrison. She recalls that further assignments for Vogue and Vanity Fair were the result, along with jobs for Tatler (with photographer Jeanloup Sieff), more TV commercials, for Smith's and for L'Oréal's Dop shampoo brand, and advertisements in newspaper fashion pages.

Boyd and Harrison were among the leading couples in the Swinging London era, when, according to a 1966 article in the Daily Express, "actors, pop singers, hairdressers, and models" were London's new "privileged class". UK underground writer Barry Miles later described her as "by far the most glamorous" of all the Beatles' wives and girlfriends, while author Shawn Levy writes that, even more so than Jane Asher, the London-born stage actress who was Paul McCartney's girlfriend for much of the 1960s, Boyd epitomised what "sixties stardom was meant to confer upon its chosen". Writing in 1966, British fashion designer Mary Quant commented that it had become a requisite for contemporary women to strive "to look like Pattie Boyd rather than Marlene Dietrich", adding: "Their aim is to look childishly young, naïvely unsophisticated, and it takes more sophistication to work out that look than those early would-be sophisticates ever dreamed of."

At the request of Gloria Stavers, Boyd began writing a column, titled "Patti's Letter from London", for the American teen magazine 16. According to Hibbert: "She reported on the latest trends in Carnaby Street, informed readers as to what the Beatles and Stones were wearing at the moment, and gave advice on how to turn dark and curly hair straight and blonde." However, with Boyd the target of hostility from the Beatles' female fans, Harrison insisted she abandon her career, to ensure their privacy. In July 1968, she and her sister Jenny, who was also a model, opened a boutique in London's fashionable Chelsea Market. They named it "Jennifer Juniper" after Donovan's song of the same name. Jenny managed the shop, which sold antiques and other objets d'art, while Boyd was the buyer.

Boyd says she had "virtually given up" modelling by the early 1970s. She resumed her career at that time, promoting designs by Ossie Clark. She and Twiggy then did a cover assignment in Milan for Italian Vogue with photographer Justin de Villeneuve, and, working again with Bailey, Boyd appeared on several covers for British Vogue. In another shoot for the latter magazine, Boyd and her sisters were photographed by Patrick Lichfield.

### Photography

Boyd began taking photographs of musicians and other friends during the 1960s and was a member of the Royal Photographic Society. In a 2008 interview, she said that it was not until 2004 that she felt "emotionally ready" to revisit the images. She also said that her lack of professional status probably made for a more intimate and authentic mood in her work, since her subjects were relaxed in her company.

Boyd first exhibited her photos of Harrison and Clapton at the San Francisco Art Exchange on Valentine's Day 2005, in a show titled Through the Eye of a Muse. The exhibition appeared in San Francisco and London during 2006, and in La Jolla, California in 2008. Through the Eye of a Muse was also shown in Dublin; in November 2008 at Toronto's The Great Hall Gallery; at the Blender Gallery in Sydney; and in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in 2009–2010.

Her exhibition Yesterday and Today: The Beatles and Eric Clapton was shown on Santa Catalina Island in California, and at the National Geographic Headquarters in Washington, DC, in 2011.

### Charity work

Boyd became involved in charity work following her separation from Clapton in the late 1980s. In 1991, she co-founded SHARP (Self Help Addiction Recovery Program) with Barbara Bach, the second wife of former Beatle Ringo Starr.

## Personal life

### Marriage to George Harrison

Boyd was in a relationship with photographer Eric Swayne when, at 19 (2 weeks away from her 20th birthday) she met Harrison, on 2 March 1964, and therefore declined his initial date proposal. Several days later, having ended the relationship with Swayne, she accompanied Harrison to a private gentlemen's club called the Garrick Club, chaperoned by the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein. With the Beatles frequently away on concert tours, she and Harrison subsequently saw each other as often as their professional commitments allowed. In July 1964, Harrison bought Kinfauns, a house in Esher, Surrey, to escape the constant attention of fans in central London, and Boyd soon moved into the house also.

Boyd had her first encounter with LSD in early 1965 when the couple's dentist, John Riley, secretly laced his guests' coffee with the drug during a dinner party at his home. As she was getting ready to leave with Harrison and John and Cynthia Lennon, Riley told them that he had spiked their drinks and tried to persuade them to stay. Outside, Boyd was in an agitated state from the drug and threatened to break a shop window, but Harrison pulled her away. Later, when Boyd and her group were in a lift on their way up to the Ad Lib Club, they mistakenly believed it was on fire.

The couple were engaged on 25 December 1965, and married on 21 January 1966 in a ceremony at Epsom register office. In his "How a Beatle Lives" profile in the Evening Standard in March 1966, Harrison stressed the equality of their relationship and credited Boyd with broadening his outlook. In September and October, after the Beatles' final concert tour, Boyd and Harrison spent six weeks in India, as guests of Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar. While in Bombay, as Harrison continued his sitar studies under Shankar's tutelage, Boyd began learning to play the dilruba, a bow-played string instrument. Due to the attention of fans and the press, they left the city with Shankar and stayed on houseboats on Dal Lake in Kashmir. On their return to England, Boyd and Harrison continued to adhere to a lifestyle of yoga and vegetarianism, and Boyd received further tuition on the dilruba from Shiv Dayal Batish.

On 25 June 1967, Boyd was among the crowd of friends who participated in the Beatles' Our World broadcast of "All You Need Is Love". Boyd shared her husband's interest in Eastern mysticism. Having become a member of the Spiritual Regeneration Movement in February 1967, she was keen to meet the movement's leader, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and so suggested that she and Harrison attend his lecture on Transcendental Meditation at the London Hilton on 24 August. Impressed with the Maharishi, Harrison and Boyd, together with the other Beatles and their partners, travelled to a seminar he hosted in Bangor, Wales, the following day. Boyd and her sister Jenny then accompanied Harrison on the Beatles' visit to the Maharishi's ashram in Rishikesh, India, in February 1968. That same year, she told Beatles biographer Hunter Davies that the four Beatles had a bond that neither she nor any other wives could penetrate; she also said she wished that the band would use their fame and influence to publicly further a cause, as Marlon Brando had done on behalf of homeless children. Boyd provided inspiration for several of Harrison's Beatles compositions, including "Something" and "For You Blue". In March 1969, as part of the British authorities' intolerant attitude towards the Beatles in the late 1960s, Boyd and Harrison were arrested at Kinfauns for possession of cannabis.

In March 1970, a month before the Beatles' break-up, Boyd moved with Harrison to Friar Park, a Victorian neo-Gothic mansion in Henley-on-Thames. By this point, Harrison's devotion to Indian spirituality, particularly the Hare Krishna movement, had begun to divide the couple. They were also unsuccessful in starting a family, and Harrison would not consider adoption. Boyd resumed her modelling career in May 1971, in defiance of Harrison's spiritual convictions. In 1973, she had an affair with Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood while Harrison romanced Wood's wife Krissie. Boyd said her decision to leave Harrison, in July 1974, was based largely on his repeated infidelities, culminating in his affair with Starr's wife Maureen, which Boyd called "the final straw".

Author Ian Inglis, discussing Harrison's 1973 song "So Sad", describes Boyd as the musician's "closest companion" and someone who shared in his "triumphs and tragedies". Among these key events, Inglis lists the international Beatlemania phenomenon, the Beatles' decision to retire from live performance, the 1967 Summer of Love, Epstein's death, the creation of Apple Corps, the Beatles' exploration of Indian spirituality, the band's break-up, Harrison's ascendancy as a songwriter and then as a solo artist, and his Bangladesh aid project. The couple's divorce was finalised on 9 June 1977. Boyd's solicitor, Paddy Grafton-Green of the London firm Theodore Goddard, later remarked on the sensitivity shown by each party towards the other, which he found particularly rare in his experience of high-stakes divorces. He said: "There was no overreacting, no greed or playing with each other's emotions – I wish all divorces were so well handled."

### Marriage to Eric Clapton

In the late 1960s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison became close friends and began writing and recording music together. Clapton fell in love with Boyd at this time. In an effort to satisfy his infatuation, Clapton briefly dated Boyd's sister Paula. His 1970 album with Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, was written to proclaim his love for Boyd, particularly the hit song "Layla". Clapton drew inspiration from The Story of Layla and Majnun by Persian writer Nizami; based on a story about the seventh-century Nejdi Bedouin poet Qays ibn Al-Mulawwah and his lover Layla bint Mahdi (or Layla al-Aamiriya), the tale concerns a man driven to madness by his unattainable love. When Boyd rebuffed his advances in late 1970, Clapton descended into heroin addiction and self-imposed exile for three years.

Once cured of his addiction in 1974, Clapton again pursued Boyd. Actor John Hurt later recalled that Harrison and Clapton staged a guitar "duel" over Boyd at Friar Park; Hurt added that it was "extraordinary ... The air was electric. Nobody dare say a word." While Boyd supports this account, Clapton has dismissed its significance. Boyd finally left Harrison on 4 July that year. She and Clapton were married on 27 March 1979 in Tucson, Arizona. They remained close friends with Harrison, who took to calling Clapton his "husband-in-law".

Boyd soon struggled within the marriage and began drinking heavily, but these difficulties were masked by her public image with Clapton. He later admitted to abusing her while they were married and he was a "full-blown" alcoholic. Clapton and Boyd tried unsuccessfully to have children, trying in vitro fertilisation in 1984 and 1987, but were faced instead with miscarriages.

Boyd left Clapton in April 1987 and divorced him in 1989. Her stated reasons were Clapton's years of alcoholism, as well as his numerous affairs, including one with Italian actress Lory Del Santo. In 1989, her divorce was granted on the grounds of "infidelity and unreasonable behaviour". She subsequently suspected that Clapton's pursuit of her when she was married to Harrison "had more to do" with the competitive aspect of the two musicians' friendship, and that "Eric just wanted what George had."

In 2007, Rolling Stone referred to Boyd as a "legendary rock muse" for her role in inspiring the music of Harrison and Clapton, while Alan Light of The New York Times described the Boyd–Clapton–Harrison love triangle as "one of the most mythical romantic entanglements in rock'n'roll history". Roger Cormier of Mental Floss similarly recognises her as "one of the most important muses in rock and roll history". In addition to "Layla", she was the inspiration for Clapton's love songs "Bell Bottom Blues" and "Wonderful Tonight". He also wrote "Golden Ring" for Boyd, in response to her sadness at learning of Harrison's marriage to Olivia Arias in 1978, and the 1983 track "The Shape You're In", which addressed Boyd's drinking.

### Marriage to Rod Weston

Boyd met property developer Rod Weston in 1991. The couple were married on 29 April 2015 in a ceremony held at the Register Office in Chelsea Old Town Hall, London. Weston was quoted as saying, "It's almost our silver anniversary so we thought we had better get on with it."

## Autobiography

In August 2007, Headline Review published Boyd's autobiography, titled Wonderful Today and co-written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. Re-titled Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me for the US market, the book contains many of Boyd's photographs. Boyd carried out interviews to promote the release. At the time, she was said to be looking forward to the idea of her book competing against Clapton's autobiography, which was published concurrently. Clapton disagreed with some of the details in her account but said, "We each have our different versions of our years together."

Reviewing Wonderful Today for The Daily Telegraph, Lynn Barber described it as "absolutely gripping" and a memoir that "gives more insight into the weirdness of rock-star life than anything I have ever read". In the United States, the book debuted at the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.

English model, photographer (born 1944)