[Illustration: COMMERCE
“MERCURY, the Protector of Travellers and Merchants, holds in his hand a
bag of gold, to which he is directing the attention of _Robert Morris_,
the Financier of the American Revolution. It was he who guided to a
successful issue the entangled pecuniary embarrassments of our country
in its struggle for independence. Alas! for himself, he died a bankrupt,
and in confinement for debt. Boxes of merchandise, and bales of goods,
with men at work among them, are to be seen. Two sailors point to a
gunboat in the distance.”--WYETH--1866]
[Illustration: MARINE
“NEPTUNE, in marine state, bearing his trident, in his car, accompanied
by his charioteer and attendants, is emerging astonished from the deep.
The beautiful Aphrodite (Venus), born of the sea foam, half risen from
the waves, holds in her hand the Atlantic cable, given her by a winged
cherub, and is about dropping it into the sea.”--WYETH--1866]
[Illustration: ARTS AND SCIENCES
“MINERVA, the Goddess of Wisdom, stands gloriously prominent, with
helmet and spear, as she springs, full grown, from the brain of Jupiter.
In meek attitudes, but with glowing faces, attentive to her teachings,
are Benjamin Franklin, Printer and Philosopher, Robert Fulton, of
Steamboat renown, and S. F. B. Morse, the generally acknowledged
inventor of the Magnetic Telegraph. There are also boys, with wondering
eyes, and expressive gestures, listening to the instructions of a school
teacher.”--WYETH--1866]
[Illustration: WAR
“FREEDOM, terrible in vengeance, with upraised sword, is striking down
Tyranny and Kingly Power. They are overcome, and flee from her wrath in
dismay; with them is Anger, and also Vengeance and Discord bearing the
incendiary torch. An angry Eagle, striking with his beak, is fighting
for, and by the side of, Freedom.”
“WASHINGTON, the Savior of his Country, apotheosized, appears seated in
majesty. On his right is the Goddess of Liberty, and on his left is a
winged idealization of Victory and Fame, sounding a trumpet, and in
triumph displaying the victor’s palm. Forming a semicircle are thirteen
female figures, representing the thirteen States.”--WYETH--1866]
[Illustration: THOMAS JEFFERSON
Of the five portraits in color of Washington’s first cabinet, painted by
Brumidi on the walls of the President’s room, that of Thomas Jefferson
is considered by many to be the most lifelike. Brumidi gave Jefferson
the favored location beneath the portrait of George Washington, thus
bestowing honor on the Secretary of State, the highest ranking Cabinet
officer. The delicate graceful carvings of the picture frame are another
Brumidi delusion. Both the portrait and the frame are painted in oil on
dry plaster. Mr. Fairman suggests that there is enough resemblance
between the Brumidi Jefferson and the Trumbull Jefferson in _the
Declaration of Independence_ in the Rotunda “upon which to base a theory
that Brumidi was at least influenced by the work of Trumbull.”]
[Illustration: WASHINGTON-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON
Brumidi was paid $500 for this mural of Washington-Jefferson-Hamilton on
the south wall of the Senate Reception Room as indicated by an 1873
voucher. Portions of two empty medallions showing in this reproduction
beyond the “decorative figures in light and shade (chiaroscuro)” remind
us of Brumidi’s sorrowful words in 1874: “Now many panels remain empty,
disfiguring the elaborate ornaments and gilded mouldings around them,
which sooner or later must be completed.”]
[Illustration: WASHINGTON AT YORKTOWN
This Cornwallis-Washington mural on the wall of the House of
Representatives Chamber was criticized in 1857 as “unsuited to halls of
deliberation where calm thought and unimpassioned reason are supposed to
reside.” For architectural reasons, however, the painting will presently
be removed from the House Chamber to a spot more accessible to ardent
friends of Brumidi. On the strap of the brief case, lower right, is the
famous Brumidi signature, “C. Brumidi, artist. Citizen of the U. S.”
(Brumidi’s Dome Canopy signature can be found on page 52.)]
[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Brumidi’s choice of Benjamin Franklin as an American statesman to
represent “History” in the decorative scheme of the frescoed ceiling of
the President’s Room is appropriate. It may be that one of the half
dozen sheets of parchment shown in the picture is meant to represent the
Declaration of Independence, and the five others to represent the
Constitution of the United States. Franklin helped to write both of
these immortal documents. It has been said that Franklin is here at once
easily recognized since this picture contains “all the characteristics
of his many portraits and statues which are generally known.”]
[Illustration: STORMING OF STONY POINT
Of the five frescoed lunettes in the larger Appropriations Committee
Room of the Senate painted by Brumidi, the “Storming of Stony Point” is
probably the most colorful. A voucher signed by Brumidi and dated
October 19, 1871, reads, “For painting in fresco three panels in
Committee Room on Military Affairs, Senate Wing, U. S. Capitol, viz:
Washington at Valley Forge, Storming of Stony Point, Boston Massacre, @
$1000 each.” Said Senator Voorhees in 1880, “Who ever passed through the
room of the Committee on Military Affairs without feeling that the very
genius of heroism had left there its immortal inspirations.”]
[Illustration: TELEGRAPH
The laying of the Atlantic cable, with its great significance, has been
painted by Brumidi into two Capitol frescoes. “Telegraph” is Brumidi’s
own title for this lunette painted as a part of the ceiling fresco in
the District of Columbia Committee Room of the Senate. The beauty,
freedom, and plenty of America extending a welcome across the seas, as
here portrayed, was always in the heart of the artist. The working
sketch for this lunette was among the Brumidi paintings stored in a
Washington bank vault for forty years.]
[Illustration: LEGISLATION
One of four Madonnas from the frescoed ceiling of the President’s Room,
Senate Annex.]