Constantino Brumidi, Michelangelo of the United States Capitol

by Myrtle Cheney Murdock

The newspaper article for November 2, 1919, quotes the accumulated storage charges as $300. It states also that “the packing evidently was done by Brumidi himself because they were arranged so expertly as to sustain no damage whatever.”

The boxes were opened by Court Order by Mr. Edward P. Schwartz who was named executor of the 1879 Brumidi will, and also “named committeeman by the Court” for Laurence who had been committed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

All of these Brumidi paintings found in 1919 are reported to have been sold at auction, including two large portraits of Lola Germon, Brumidi’s American-born wife and the mother of Laurence. The Sunday Star, in the above-mentioned article, reproduced the portrait of Lola and commented upon her beauty as well as upon her likeness to many of the Madonnas in the Capitol frescoes.

Charles E. Fairman, art curator of the Capitol, was present at the time these storage boxes were opened and has left a list of the contents of each box. He records a total of twenty-four paintings. Fairman also makes mention of the two portraits of Lola Germon in heavy gold, oval-shaped frames. But no one connected with the Capitol Building, so far as I have been able to learn, made a bid for any of the stored Brumidi paintings.

I have found, however, that two letters are on file from Mr. Edward P. Schwartz to Capitol authorities giving detailed information concerning the stored paintings. The Schwartz letter dated October 21, 1919, follows:

“Sometime ago I was made Executor under the Will of Mrs. Lola V. Kirkwood, who was the widow of Constantino Brumidi, the artist who devoted more than 25 years of his life to the beautification of the Capitol. Mr. Brumidi has a son who is now in the Insane Asylum and under Mr. Brumidi’s Will, which was filed and never probated, he left all of his etchings of the Capitol and designs, etc., together with other paintings to his son. The Court appointed me Committeeman of this son with instructions to examine the several boxes that have been in storage for over thirty years and have their contents appraised and report to the Court. If you are interested, call by my office and we will go over and have these boxes opened to see what they contain as you may be able to make some suggestion as to their disposal.”

On February 21, 1920, Mr. Schwartz wrote again to the Capitol, this time to the Joint Committee on the Library:

“I am sending herewith enclosed an item in the Sunday’s Star entitled ‘Brumidi Paintings found in Washington after a Search of Forty Years.’ You will notice that these paintings are the original, or the copies from which Brumidi decorated the Capitol. Among the twenty-seven oil paintings of various sizes belonging to the estate of Brumidi, of which I am the Executor and Committeeman for his son, Laurence S. Brumidi, who is now in St. Elizabeth’s Asylum for the insane, there is one worthy of consideration, and that is the original oil painting of the Rotunda of the Capitol which I have in storage and is in excellent condition. This miniature is in oil, about 35 inches in diameter from which, no doubt, he copied his wonderful Rotunda painting. It is quite an education and shows the process of making a great picture. There are quite a number of his paintings in the collection, and I was wondering if the Committee on the Library would be sufficiently interested to confer with the object of offering a suggestion as to the final disposition of these paintings. It is my judgment they should be in the Capitol, as they are all, I believe, originals, and the only ones existing.... Personally, I would like to see these paintings in the Capitol.”

Mr. Fairman has left the following memorandum, dated October 22, 1919, in the Capitol files referring to the information from Mr. Schwartz: “Called on Edward P. Schwartz at 734 Fifteenth Street, N. W., in relation to attached letter. Mr. Schwartz showed me a copy of the Will of Constantino Brumidi, executed at 921 G Street, N. W., June 27, 1879, in which he appoints Robert Mason of Washington, D. C., his executor. The Will is witnessed by Wm. H. Appleton, A. H. Whittaker, Martha Dent, and Robert Mason. I made a copy of one section of the Will. While the entire Will is in favor of Laurence S. Brumidi, this paragraph seems to be the only one in which this office is interested:

“‘All engravings, works of art, paintings, and apparatus pertaining thereto ... all designs, sketches and tracings for the frieze of the Capitol of the U. S.’