“In this very cold weather I am compelled to suspend the work in
the Rotunda where
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE
Another lunette painted by Brumidi high on the walls of the old Senate
Committee Room on Military Affairs was named by Brumidi, “Washington at
Valley Forge.” This portrayal of our Revolutionary General was evidently
painted with these words of Washington in mind: “We have this day no
less than 2,873 men in camp unfit for duty because they are barefooted
and otherwise naked ... numbers are still obliged to sit all night by
fires.” (December 23, 1777.) Could the two soldiers with Washington be
Brumidi’s conception of Baron Steuben and Lafayette?]
the heating is not enough to prevent the frost at the surface of
the mortar, that does not remain soft long enough upon the wall for
absorbing the colors till the piece of the day would be completed,
causing injury to the work; for this reason I ask the permission to
suspend the fresco work for some weeks until the weather will be
not so cold.
“I am proceeding with the cartoon of The Landing of the Pilgrims,
where I have no need of the laborer’s assistance.”