Clark’s clerk), Amzi Smith

(Brumidi’s friend, who

worked in the Senate Document Room), and George

F. W. Strieby (one of the

painters who assisted him

at the Capitol).2

Later that year, Congress

paid the $500 still owed to

Brumidi for the canopy to

his heirs Laurence and

Elena and gave $200 to

Lola for funeral expenses.

The authorizing bill was introduced by Senator Daniel

Voorhees, who eulogized:

He who beautifies the pathway of life, who creates

images of loveliness for the human eye to rest upon,

is a benefactor of the human race. He will be

crowned by the gratitude of his own and of succeeding generations. In the older countries of Europe,

where the profession of art has a higher rank than

here, Brumidi would have had a public funeral, and

his remains would have been deposited in ground set

apart for persons of distinction. In England he would

have had a place and a tablet in Westminster Abbey.

It matters, little, however, whether we or those who

come after us do anything to perpetuate his memory.

The walls of his Capitol will hold his fame fresh and

ever increasing as long as they themselves shall stand. 3

He was followed by Senator Justin S. Morrill, who

commented: 

Covering as he has done so much space with his

fresco paintings—so difficult and so durable—it is

rumidi worked on

the cartoons for the

frieze until he lost

consciousness the day before

he died. Although asthma

had been his main complaint, his death certificate

lists the cause of death as

“chronic Bright’s Disease

and uremia,” that is, kidney

failure.1 His death occurred

at 6:30 a.m. on February 19,

1880, at his home at 921 G

Street, N.W., a three-story brick house owned by his former wife, now Lola V. Walsh. His longtime friend Father

Benedict Sestini, S.J., had been called to his deathbed by

his son Laurence but did not reach him in time. 

At the funeral, held the next day at his house and attended by many friends, the Catholic burial service was

read by Rev. J. A. Walter, pastor of St. Matthew’s

Church. His pallbearers were Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark, Professor Marini (L. G. Marini, in whose

dancing academy, Marini Hall, Brumidi had prepared cartoons for the frieze), Ben Perley Poore (the popular reporter, Boston Journal columnist, clerk of the Senate

Printing Committee, and, ironically, a critic of Meigs’s art

program in the 1850s), William McPyncheon (Edward

171

CHAPTER 12

Death of 

“the Genius of the Capitol”

B

12–1. Bust of Brumidi against a newly conserved panel in

the Brumidi Corridors. In recent years, the artist of the Captiol

has been honored by this marble portrait and by the program to

conserve his murals. United States Senate Collection.

Fig. 12–2. Commemorative plaque in Glenwood Cemetery.

Brumidi’s grave in the Germon family plot was marked in 1951

through the efforts of Myrtle Cheney Murdock. 

Photo: Theodor Horydczac.
wonder that so great a part should be fairly excellent

and so little that competent critics esteem otherwise . . . . his great desire was that he might live to

complete his last great work. So long had he devoted

his heart and strength to this Capitol that his love

and reverence for it was not surpassed by even that of

Michael Angelo for St. Peter’s.4

Senator Morrill’s comparison may have suggested the

epithet “Michelangelo of the Capitol,” which was first

mentioned by Hazelton in 1897 and later adopted by

Myrtle Cheney Murdock for the title of her book. Many

decades later, the Congress again recognized Brumidi’s

contributions by commissioning a bust of him for the

Capitol (fig. 12–1).

Brumidi’s American wife, Lola, buried the artist in the

Germon family plot at Glenwood Cemetery alongside her

parents (fig. 12–2). Brumidi had separated from Lola

some time in the 1870s; by 1879, she had remarried.

However, she remained concerned for Brumidi’s welfare,

and at the end of his life, Brumidi was living in a house

she owned.5 Legal records reveal her ownership of a number of pieces of property and her apparent business acumen. Brumidi, however, died penniless.6 Lola later married Captain Edwin Kirkwood and moved to Richmond,

Virginia; they both died in 1918. She was buried alongside Constantino Brumidi in Glenwood Cemetery.

Brumidi’s will, which was filed on June 27, 1879 (but

never probated), left all of his estate, including his designs, sketches, paintings, and library, to his son Laurence. Laurence Stauros Brumidi (1861–1920) (fig.

12–3) received his first training in painting from his father. By age seventeen, he had produced a copy of a

painting by Guido Reni; Brumidi sent this copy to Senator Justin Morrill, who wrote, “It is quite a pleasing picture, and considering the short time he has attempted any

work of this kind I think it betokens a talent of which his

father may reasonably be hopeful.”7 It is puzzling that, at

the time of Brumidi’s death, Laurence was often called

his “adopted son.” Laurence studied art in Rome for five

years around 1880, winning a prize medal at the Royal

Institute of Fine Arts. He was bitterly disappointed in not

being chosen to complete his father’s Capitol frieze, but

the Joint Committee on the Library finally paid him

$1500 for the use of his father’s sketches.8 Laurence became director of the Kansas City Art Association and

School of Design in 1888. He studied in Paris from 1893

to 1894, exhibiting work in the Salon and winning a

prize. He painted portraits, landscapes, and church commissions. In 1916, however, he was judged insane and

committed to St. Elizabeth’s mental hospital in Washington, D.C., where he died in 1920. Laurence’s obituary

stated: “He was of a retiring disposition, and was a keen

student of all things pertaining to art.”9 A year before his

death, in 1919, two crates he had placed in storage were

discovered at the National Savings & Trust Co. They

held twenty-seven oil paintings, including the final oil

sketch for The Apotheosis of Washington, which were sold

at auction in 1925.10

172

Fig. 12–3. Laurence S. Brumidi as a young man. Brumidi’s

son hoped to complete the frieze begun by his father. Lola Germon

Brumidi Family Album, United States Senate Collection.
Penn, he worked on the frieze into 1881, progressing to

the scenes entitled “Colonization of New England,”

“Oglethorpe and the Indians,” “Battle of Lexington,”

and “Declaration of Independence” (see foldout). Although Costaggini worked in Philadelphia in 1882, he

was at the Capitol essentially full time, as many as 250

days a year, for the first several years. 

Costaggini took some liberties with Brumidi’s design;

the most radical change is seen in “Death of Tecumseh,”

for which Costaggini made a new sketch in 1884, eliminating Brumidi’s small scene, “Decatur at Tripoli.”17 He

signed this scene at the base of the tree to the right, and

above his signature appears a hooded face, possibly a selfportrait, as if carved into the trunk of the tree (fig. 12–7).

That year, Costaggini must have realized that Brumidi’s

sketches would not extend far enough to encircle the Rotunda. He “found that the subjects were not sufficient to

fill the space owing to a miscalculation,” and he began to

enlarge the scale of the scenes in order to make them

longer.18 Consequently, his figures are taller than Brumidi’s and his groups look more crowded. He also proposed adding a new scene entitled “Driving the Last Spike

in the Pacific Railroad,” but this was not approved.19

The Completion of 

the Rotunda Frieze 

The first of several letters recommending Filippo Costaggini (fig. 12–4) as Brumidi’s sucessor is dated February

20, the day after Brumidi’s death.11 Costaggini, born in

1837, came to the United States in 1870 and had extensive experience decorating churches. Edward Clark still

had no funds appropriated for the work, but he agreed to

accept résumés from artists with fresco experience.

Costaggini said that he was recommended by Brumidi

himself because they were both trained at the Accademia

di San Luca in Rome. The day of Brumidi’s death, a newspaper reported that Brumidi had requested Edward Clark

to entrust the completion of the frieze to Costaggini.12

A number of other painters wrote letters expressing interest in finishing the frieze. One even proposed to redo

the Rotunda completely in Victorian Gothic style.13

However, by May, Costaggini was selected to be Brumidi’s successor: 

The Joint Committee on the Library before Congress

adjourned, instructed the Architect of the Capitol, Mr.

Clark to give the New York fresco artist, Filippo

Costaggini, a trial at completing the allegorical fresco

belt in the Capitol dome left unfinished by Brumidi.

No appropriation has been made for continuing the

work at the point where the late artist stopped. He believes he can carry out Brumidi’s idea and style in the

completion of the great undertaking. If he fails, his

work will be erased and another artist will be given a

chance to attempt it.14

By September 1880 he was at work on finishing

“William Penn and the Indians,” for the same wages of

$10 a day that Brumidi had earned.15 Beneath the righthand group of Indians, he wrote in pencil “F. Costaggini

commincio in questo punto,” to mark the point at which

he started (fig. 12–5). The difference between the leg and

foot painted by Brumidi and those by Costaggini is dramatic (fig. 12–6). Brumidi’s strokes are almost impressionistic, just enough to create the appearance of three-dimensional forms from the floor, while Costaggini’s style

was tighter, more linear and detailed, with the shoe buckle

carefully outlined. Brumidi’s Indians were dressed almost

in classical style, while Costaggini drew every bit of fringe

on each costume. Consequently, his figures look somewhat flatter and stiffer than Brumidi’s. He traced Brumidi’s scroll of sketches onto his own twenty-four-foot

scroll, and he purchased a cast of an ancient classical frieze

to help create the three-dimensional effect needed.16

Costaggini’s work was interrupted by other projects to

which he was committed, partly because his pay at the

Capitol was so low. After completing the scene of William

173

DEATH OF “THE GENIUS OF THE CAPITOL”

Fig. 12–4. Filippo Costaggini. The Italian immigrant artist

was recommended by Brumidi to complete the frieze because of his

similar academic training in Rome. 
In 1885, Costaggini signed and dated “American Army

entering the City of Mexico.” In 1886 and 1887, he was

painting in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and in Philadelphia

and worked only a few days at the Capitol. Finally, in May

1889, he signed and dated “Discovery of Gold in California.” Tellingly, his signatures grew larger in size (fig.

12–8). Over the almost nine-year span of his work on the

frieze, Costaggini was paid $16,162 for working approximately 1,600 days.20

As Costaggini predicted, the last figure in the scene

did not meet up with Brumidi’s first scene as planned,

and a gap of over 31 feet remained. Costaggini was accused by some of deliberately crowding Brumidi’s

scenes in order to make room for his own designs. One

of his chief critics was Brumidi’s son Laurence, who had

hoped to complete the frieze himself. 

Measurements taken during the conservation of the

frieze and compared to those on Brumidi’s sketch show

the source of the problem: although originally told that the

height of the frieze was 9 feet, he actually had only 7 feet 9

inches of usable vertical space. Even including the blank

band at the bottom, which is hidden by the ledge beneath

it, the frieze is only 8 feet 3 inches high. Thus each of Brumidi’s own scenes, retaining its original proportions, is

smaller than he had originally intended in 1859.

The history of attempts to complete the frieze is long

and agonizing. A resolution to allow Costaggini to complete it for $6,000 was passed in 1896. Costaggini proposed scenes showing the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory Point and President

Cleveland opening the Columbian Exposition; the next

year, he created designs for scenes showing the Civil War

(Sherman’s army passing the review stand) and the

Emancipation Proclamation (fig. 12–9), but arguments

over the subjects prevented authorization of the work.21

When Costaggini died in 1904 with the frieze still unfin174

Fig. 12–6. “William Penn and the Indians.” Brumidi painted

the left half of the scene, Costaggini the right. Note the different

level of detail in Penn’s shoes and in the costumes of the Native

Americans. Rotunda.

Fig. 12–5. Costaggini’s inscription. Brumidi’s successor wrote

in Italian “F. Costaggini began at this point” where he took up

work on the frieze. Rotunda.
175

DEATH OF “THE GENIUS OF THE CAPITOL”

Fig. 12–7. The hidden portrait. Costaggini may have painted

a self-portrait over his signature in the tree trunk at the end of

“Death of Tecumseh.” Rotunda.

Fig. 12–8. Signature and date on “Discovery of Gold in

California.” Filippo Costaggini signed his name prominently in

the last scene he completed. Rotunda.
ished, it had already been badly streaked by leaks during a

storm in 1898 (see fig. 14–2). In 1908, another blocked

drain caused further damage. Brumidi’s scaffold still dangled in the Rotunda “like a huge ungainly spider.”22

A new bill to complete the frieze was introduced in

1914. The subjects “Grant and Lee at Appomattox,”

“Panama Canal,” and “Triumph of Aerial Navigation”

were discussed. The American Institute of Architects, on

the other hand, described the trompe l’oeil sculpture as

“a miserable sham” and urged Congress to “condemn

the whole thing.”23 The idea was finally bogged down in

arguments over whether the apple tree in the Appomattox scene was historically accurate. In 1918, Charles

Ayer Whipple was allowed to paint in the gap a sample

scene called “Spirit of 1917” (fig. 12–10). Whipple had

hoped to paint three scenes, but the poor quality of his

work was evidently recognized, for he was not allowed to

continue, although a joint resolution was passed in 1919

to restore and complete the frieze. In 1928, Charles

Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic Ocean was discussed as a subject for a scene. The idea of either completely replacing or completing the frieze was brought

up periodically in the Congress. In 1945, Architect of

the Capitol David Lynn explored the possibility of redoing the frieze in marble high relief, harkening back to

Meigs’s idea of almost a century before. Finally, legislation authorizing the painting of the last three scenes was

passed in 1950, and funds were appropriated in 1951. In

1952, a century after Brumidi arrived in America, Allyn

Cox signed a contract, and he completed his work in

1953 (fig. 12–11). In addition to cleaning the surface of

the nineteenth-century frieze, he repainted the uneven

dark background of all of the scenes. The entire frieze

was finally dedicated on May 11, 1954.

In 1986, Congress appropriated funds to remove accumulated grime, overpaint, and streaks caused by leaking

water. The conservation treatment, completed early in

1987, vividly restored the illusion of relief sculpture (see

chapter 14). Damage from leaks caused by a stopped-up

drain was repaired in 1994.

176

Fig. 12–9. Filippo Costaggini. Sketch for the Emancipation

Proclamation, 1897. None of the artist’s proposed scenes were 

approved. Architect of the Capitol.
Brumidi’s Reputation

Brumidi’s stature at the time of his death is shown by the

number of obituaries describing his career published in

the Washington Post, Washington Star, Baltimore Sun,

Philadelphia Telegraph (both Daily and Evening), New

York Times, New York Tribune, and American Architect

and Building News. He was praised as “the genius of the

Capitol” and as one “whose decoration at the Capitol has

given him a world-wide reputation.”24

However, at the same time, many considered Brumidi’s

style of painting and concepts old-fashioned. Some writers praised his technique and dedication but disparaged

his artistic sense: “Signore Brumidi, whatever may be said

of his design, understood his process thoroughly, and was

enthusiastic and indefatigable in his work.”25 “While

177

DEATH OF “THE GENIUS OF THE CAPITOL”

Fig. 12–10. Frieze with Charles Whipple’s “Spirit of 1917.”

The 1918 trial piece was not a success, for Whipple was not allowed

to complete the frieze. 

Photo: Underwood and Underwood.

Fig. 12–11. Allyn Cox at work on the frieze. Cox is shown

here retouching damage to Brumidi’s fresco.
Signor Brumidi’s remarkable designs have caused much

grief to the judicious, and infinite mirth to the irreverent,

he was certainly a master of the difficult process of frescopainting, which is the most durable known of art.”26

The most negative criticism was published by the

Philadelphia Daily Telegraph:

. . . it may be said, “He was most industrious. . . .

But, if the quality of his work is considered, we

doubt whether those who are at all competent to

judge with regard to the matter will differ among

themselves as to the fact that his employment for a

long term of years, in the face of repeated and emphatic protests from people who knew what good

decoration was, was most scandalous.

Brumidi covered several acres of the Capitol walls

with his frescoes . . . . The bulk of Brumidi’s work,

however, is to the last degree abominable. . . . In

spite of the howling—howling is the only proper

word in such a connection—atrocities which he perpetuated on the Naval and other committee-rooms,

on the corridors, on the Congressional halls, and on

every nook and corner upon which he could lay his

hands, he was permitted to paint on the interior of

the dome a composition which, both in design and

execution, is about as abominable as anything of that

kind well could be, and at the time of his death he

was engaged in “decorating” the frieze of the rotunda with an imitation bas-relief which, if anything,

was worse than the artistic atrocity on the ceiling.27

The press took up this negative tone in discussing the

question of who would finish the frieze. The American

Architect and Building News wanted William M. Hunt or

John La Farge to be considered, but was not sure Brumidi’s frieze should be continued at all “if it fails as a

work of art, which we believe it does,” and questioned

congressmen’s ability to decide aesthetic questions.28 In

1884, the publication continued its derogatory comments while Costaggini was completing the frieze: “The

finishing touch is at last to be put to the painful caricature

which makes the lower part of the dome in the Capitol at

Washington ridiculous, by the addition of a new jumble

of what are supposed to be historical subjects. . . as there

was no one in Washington with energy enough to prevent

him, [Brumidi] actually spent many years of his life in carrying out this dreary joke.”29

Negative assessment continued into the early twentieth

century. In 1911, critic Elisabeth Luther Carey wrote that

Brumidi was “by no means unversed in the science of his

craft, but no one will pretend that his decorations

amount to anything as art.” Although in 1919 a favorable

comment appeared—“There is no question but what

Brumidi will go down in history as the artistic genius of

the Capitol”—the next year, he was described as “a famous interior decorator.” Brumidi’s reputation also suffered from being over-dramatized: “More romance, travel

and patriotic efforts entered into his career than is usually

accorded to a hundred men.”30

By the early part of the twentieth century, little accurate information about Brumidi was known, and his work

was being overpainted without remorse. It is ironic that

Charles Fairman could say in 1930, “In these paintings

he has touched a high mark in the excellency of mural

decoration of his period, or for that matter, any period,”

just after many of Brumidi’s frescoes had been painted

over by inferior artists such as Charles A. Whipple,

George B. Matthews, and Charles Moberly.31

Although Allyn Cox cleaned the frieze while adding the

last three scenes in 1953, at the time he was hired to clean

and restore the canopy in 1959 he felt free to repaint Brumidi’s fresco almost completely. Cox once stated his justification for this action: “In the case of the Capitol frescoes I recommended repainting. But, as I was careful to state clearly,

and was understood before I began, we were dealing with

paintings whose chief qualities were architectural and historical, and the job there was to preserve them as decorative and

historic parts of the Capitol building, even if it did involve

more repainting than is considered ethical in the best museum practice.”32

Thus, by the 1960s, accurate evaluation of Brumidi’s

achievement was not possible because so much of his

work had been painted over, retouched, or darkened by

grime. In the 1970s, with the renewal of appreciation

for Victorian architecture and decoration and the

growth of historic preservation, conservation of Brumidi’s work became a priority. By the time of the bicentennial of the Capitol in 1993, enough of his important

work was restored to allow a valid and balanced assessment of Constantino Brumidi’s remarkable art for the

first time in living memory.

Notes to Chapter 12

1. Certificate of Death, District of Columbia, No. 23257, February

19, 1880. 

2. Notes from February 19, 1880, from Gonzaga College Diary.

“Brumidi’s Funeral,” Evening Star (Washington), February 21, 1880.

3. Congressional Record, 46th Cong., 2d sess., February 24, 1880, p. 1075.

4. Ibid., p. 1076.

5. In March of 1879, Mrs. Lola V. Walsh secured a loan to purchase

921 G Street, N.W., USSC/MTP. Plat Book, Glenwood Cemetery,

D.C., Section Q, Lot No. 70. A “First Auditor’s Certificate” dated November 10, 1880, acknowledges that a sum of $33.00 is due to Mrs. L.

V. Walsh for purchasing the “burial site in Glenwood Cemetery for

Constantino Brumidi deceased” NARA/RG 217. References to Edwin

C. Kirkwood can be found in USSC/MTP. 

178
2440, May 13, 1966. The cast of the Battle of the Amazons from the

Temple of Minerva was ordered by EC for Costaggini from C. Cinocchio in New York, April 18, 1881.

17. William Macleod, Curator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, to EC,

February 24, 1884, mentions the sketch being finished, AOC/CO.

18. Filippo Costaggini to G. P. Wetmore, Chairman of Library Committee, June 19, 1897, AOC/CO.

19. American Architect and Building News, October 18, 1884, p. 181.

20. Glenn Brown erroneously gave $10,084 as the total.

21. “Historical Frieze,” Evening Star (Washington), May 30, 1896,

and photographs of four sketches copyrighted in 1897, AOC/CO.

22. “The Abandoned Fresco of the Capitol,” unidentified clipping

dated February 16, 1913, AOC/CO.

23. Journal of the American Institute of Architects, 2, no. 9, September 1914, p. 434.

24. “Death of a Great Artist,” Washington Post, February 20, 1880;

“Death of the Artist Constantino Brumidi,” Baltimore Sun, February

20, 1880, p. 1.

25. “Death of Brumidi, the Fresco-Painter of the National Capitol,”

Philadelphia Evening Telegraph, February 19, 1880, p. 2.

26. “The Late Constantine Brumidi,” Philadelphia Daily Telegraph,

reprinted in American Architect and Building News, March 6, 1880.

27. “Brumidi and His Successor,” Philadelphia Daily Telegraph, February 20, 1880, p. 4.

28. “Brumidi’s Successor,” American Architect and Building News,

February 21, 1880; “The Death of Signor Brumidi,” February 28, 1880;

“Brumidi’s Work at the Capitol in Washington,” March 27, 1880.

29. American Architect and Building News, October 18, 1884, p. 181.

30. “American Mural Decoration,” Woman’s Home Companion, December, 1911, p. 47; “Brumidi Paintings Found in Washington After a

Search of Forty Years,” Washington Star, November 2, 1919, pp. 6–7;

“Laurence S. Brumidi Dead: To Be Buried Tomorrow,” unidentified

obituary, AOC/CO; “Artist is Restoring Capitol’s Great Paintings,”

Sunday Star (Washington), April 13, 1919, p. 4.

31. Congressional Record, 71st Cong., 2d sess., January 29, 1930, p. 3.

32. Allyn Cox to Mario E. Campioli, June 16, 1963, AOC/CO.

6. Robert Mason, Attorney for Mrs. L. V. Walsh, to the Honorable

R. M. Reynolds, First Auditor of the Treasury, November 6, 1880. Mr.

Mason indicates that Mrs. Walsh has paid the burial expenses, including

clothing, burial site, and undertaker fees. Mr. Mason further indicates

that since Congress has approved money to cover the costs of Brumidi’s

burial (June 8, 1880, “AN ACT for the payment of certain moneys to

the heirs of Constantino Brumidi, deceased”), Mrs. Walsh will be reimbursed by those vendors when they receive the appropriated funds.

NARA/RG 217. 

7. Justin Morrill to CB, June 20, 1878 , USSC/MTP.

8. A medal stamped in silver with the inscription, “Premio allo Studio” (First Prize in Studies) and on the reverse, “Regio Istituto de Belle

Arti in Roma” (The Royal Institute of Fine Arts in Rome) was donated

to the Architect of the Capitol by Mildred Thompson. Joint Committee

on the Library, 48th Cong., 1st sess., March 19, 1884, H. Rept. 390.

Report to accompany H.R. 6091.

9. “Lawrence Brumidi Dead: To Be Buried Tomorrow,” November

11, 1920, AOC/CO.

10. C. G. Sloan & Co., Inc, Auctioneers, Estate Sale catalogue for

the week of January 26, 1925 (Washington, D.C.).

11. E. DeMerolla, Vice Consul of Italy, Baltimore, [to EC ?] February 20, 1880, AOC/CO.

12. Filippo Costaggini to “The Honorable Members of the Committee,” probably the Joint Committee on the Library, from New York in

March 1880; “Art and Artists.” Evening Transcript (Boston), February

24, 1880.

13. Edward Van Reuth created a watercolor design and a large rendering in oil on canvas showing the entire Rotunda redone with stained

glass and paintings by himself. See letter from his father, Felix van

Reuth, to EC, August 12, 1880, AOC/CO. The paintings were donated to the Architect of the Capitol by his grandson Arthur B. Van

Reuth and other descendents. 

14. Boston Advertiser, June 18, 1880, as quoted in Dan Estes and

Charles E. Lauriat, American Art Review, Boston, 1880.

15. Filippo Costaggini to EC, thanking him and saying that he will

be ready to begin work in the Rotunda in July as requested, May 24,

1880, AOC/CO. Moving to Washington delayed the artist’s start.

16. Costaggini’s pen and ink scroll, 12 inches by 24 feet 6 inches,

was auctioned by his grandson at the Parke-Bernet Galleries, Sale No.

179

DEATH OF “THE GENIUS OF THE CAPITOL”