Is the Declaration of Independence locked in a vault when not on display?
“Placed in the center of the grand 75-foot high domed semi-circular Rotunda, the Charters are currently displayed in a raised marble case, flanked by two 35-foot murals depicting the presentation of the Declaration of Independence to John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, on the left; and James Madison presenting George Washington with the final draft of the U.S. Constitution, on the right. The Declaration is mounted vertically on the wall above the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Each night the Charters are lowered twenty feet into a steel and reinforced concrete vault beneath the display area. Before opening the Rotunda each morning, the documents are mechanically raised into the marble display cases. The two pages not on display (the two middle pages of the Constitution) are stored in the vault and are not on view to the public. George Washington’s transmittal page for the Constitution, which is written on parchment, is also stored in the vault.
