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.)
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.”
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.”
