In June of 1877 Henry Farny is reported to have completed a 14ft x 10ft design for the superior courtroom in the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The image depicted a court of justice in Ancient Rome, with a magistrate overseeing two lawyers arguing a case between them. The design was part of an effort to build a new courthouse, as the old one’s ceiling had collapsed.
The article was published by The Indianapolis News, June 13, 1877, page 4, column 2, but looks to be a copy of a similar article published by the Cincinnati Gazette, presumably a few days before. However, I could not locate the Cincinnati Gazette version of the article.
Though I’ve been unable to locate an image of Farny’s design, it appears the image was added to the ceiling by German-born artist Henry Ranje (1842-1887). According to this July 02, 1877, article in The People newspaper, page 5, column 3, Ranje painted a Roman scene on the courthouse ceiling that sounds very similar to the description of Farny’s design:
Mr. Ranje would later get paid $300 for his work on the courthouse, according to a January 19, 1878, page 4, column 4 blurb, in The People:
There’s little information available about Henry Ranje, though a profile for him is available on ancestry.com. He advertised himself in 1877 as a Fresco Painter with a residence at 248 S. Pennsylvania, Indianapolis, Indiana. According to an 1880 census, Henry was born in 1842 in Prussia. He fathered at least seven children. His brother-in-law, also a Fresco painter, was living with the Ranje family by 1880. Ranje passed away in the summer of 1887.
