A voucher, signed by Brumidi, and dated November 11, 1874, has been found referring to this treaty picture:
“For painting in Fresco over the entrance of the room of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, the picture of the Signing of the First Treaty with Great Britain—$600.”
On the upper walls of the Patent Corridor at the extreme east end of the North Corridor are large frescoes of Fulton and his invention on the Hudson, Fitch working on a steamboat model, and Franklin in his laboratory, while the ceiling displays many small designs of patents important to the American people. Roses of all colors, conventionalized or in tall graceful vases, predominate in this corridor decoration. Brumidi is reported to have said that his “Palisades of the Hudson” in the Robert Fulton fresco were not strong enough in perspective and that he hoped some day to have time to strengthen that portion of his painting.
A Brumidi voucher dated November 28, 1873, helps to verify the fact that the Fulton painting is a fresco:
“For painting in fresco the picture of Robert Fulton in the Senate wing, in the passage in front of the room of the Committee on Patents—$500.”
The Main Corridor on the ground floor of the Senate Extension is said to follow the Byzantine style of decoration with subdued backgrounds that display to perfection 14 more oval-shaped landscapes of marvelous depth and beauty. At the extreme north end of the corridor are the profile portraits of Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, large frescoes of Justice Story and Chancellor Kent and a bust of Chancellor Livingstone executed in imitation sculpture.
THREE GRACES
Four such groups of Graces in varying attitudes and color combinations are used by Brumidi as corner motives on the frescoed ceiling of the District of Columbia Committee Room of the Senate. So delicately beautiful are the pastel shades in the maidens’ drapery that the studies of graces are equally as popular as the lunettes which they separate. Again, all frames and intricate moldings are painted on a smooth ceiling surface. The working sketch for these Graces is reproduced in black and white on page 79.