(Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)

Workers restoring the dome at the U.S. Capitol have broken out the paint—1,215 gallons of it to be exact. Starting at the top, with the base of the Statue of Freedom, they have been carefully layering on three coats. Now, with repainting done at the top—and the final coat of “Dome White” gleaming in the spring sunlight—the scaffolding is making its way down.

The metal frame has been a fixture on the Capitol for the past two years, almost as if the national icon got itself a very full set of braces in 2014. But the Cupola level will be free of its cage by the end of the month as workers make their way down the dome to continue painting, according to a spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol. The scaffolding at the very top of the dome came down at the end of last year.

The painting work follows three earlier restoration phases: the removal of pounds of lead paint—14 layers of it—and hundreds of ornaments that needed to be fixed or replaced; priming the cast iron to prevent rapid rusting; and fixing more than 1,000 cracks using a painstaking method done by hand.

The rest of the project, which also includes interior work will be finished before the inauguration next year.

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