Constantino Brumidi, Michelangelo of the United States Capitol

by Myrtle Cheney Murdock

C. Brumidi

LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS

Of the fifteen historical groups planned by Brumidi for the frescoed frieze encircling the Rotunda, the “Landing of the Pilgrims” is the one in which the attitude of prayer predominates. This frieze is 9 feet wide and 58 feet from the Rotunda floor. Brumidi was 72 years old when he began its execution but he had drawn the plans probably twenty years earlier.

But this last task he set for himself was too great. Of the fifteen scenes Brumidi planned, he finished the following six: Landing of Columbus, 1492; Entry of Cortez into Mexico, 1521; Pizarro’s Conquest of Peru, 1533; Midnight Burial of DeSoto, 1541; Pocahontas saving John Smith, 1606; Landing of the Pilgrims, 1620.

PENN’S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS

The seventh group, chronologically, on the Rotunda frieze is “Penn’s Treaty with the Indians.” It follows the “Landing of the Pilgrims” in Brumidi’s design. It was while working on this group that Brumidi fell on the scaffolding and was never able to return. The three Indians at the right were left unfinished, the lighter background marking the spot from which Brumidi fell.

The artist had the seventh scene, Penn’s Treaty with the Indians, 1682, more than half finished when he fell from the suspended chair from which he worked and was forced to hang by his arms from a ladder until workmen made the rescue. The last few months of his life he worked at his studio on the frieze cartoons. Edward Clark, Architect of the Capitol, makes reference to the unfinished frieze in his Report of October 1, 1880. Said he at that time, “But little progress has been made on the frescoes of the belt in the Dome, owing to the illness and death of the late Constantino Brumidi. Philip Costaggini, an artist of acknowledged merit, educated in the same school as the former artist, is now engaged on these frescoes.” One year later, however, on October 1, 1881, Mr. Clark made the following report:

“Mr. Costaggini has painted in fresco on the belt of the Rotunda the “Settlement of New England,” “Oglethorpe and the Indians,” left unfinished by Mr. Brumidi, and he is now engaged on the “Reading of the Declaration of Independence.” It is proper to state here, that Mr. Brumidi made the designs for these sections only in small size and Mr. Costaggini has had to make the eight remaining full size cartoons.”