Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-02-20
BKUMIDI AND his WORK.
Death of the Old FrescOer of the Fedora
Capitol.

O1p1tOls |
Brumidi, fresco painter of the capitol in
" Washington, who died yesterday morning,
vas born in the city of Rome 73 years
lgo, where he studied, surrounded by an
atmosphere of art and with the exam pies |
If the noblest works of the greatest mas !
,ers constantly before him. He attained |
celebrity in Rome, and such
was his standing as an artis that he was
favored with commission to paint a por-
trait of Pho Mono, and was also employed
for long time in repairing the frescOes Of
the celebrated LOgge di RaffaellO in the
direction of Raphael by Giulio Romano
to this country in 1S4S, and proceeded to
altar-pieces for churches, as he did also in
New York and other cities after his return.
The largest of these is that of Stephens,
in New York, which is seventy feet in
height.
Coming under the notice of Mr.. Walter
and General Meigs, who were on charge of
the capitol extension, then Just completed
he was employed to decorate the room of
the committee on agriculture of the
House of Representatives. This was
finished in 1855, and gained him much
celebrity. It was considered at that time,
as far as mere execution was concerned, to
have been the best example of mural
decoration in the country, and to-day, ON
account of the excellence of his method of
applying the colors, they are as pure and
brilliant as when first laid on. While
Signor Brumidi's remarkable designs have
cause much grief to the judicious and in
finite mirth to the irreverent, he was cer-
tainly master of the difficult process of
fresco- painting, which is the most durable
known to art. His work in this room, as
far as drawing and coloring are concerned
was more satisfactory from an artistic
standpoint than his latter work especially
that upon the rotunda on which he was
engaged at the time of his death.
Since 1855 Brumidi had been almost
constantly at work upon the interior of the
capitol. He decorated with his brush a
number Of the apartments in the building,
and also accomplished the wonderful work
of covering the walls of the corridors in the
basement story of the Senate with mural
ornaments of arabesque, combined with
representations of the birds, fruits and
flowers of America. The most cOlossa
work executed by him in the capitol is
that of the allegorical painting on the
canopy in the dome. This canopy is com
posed of a a'basket-wOrk of interlaced iron.
rods, covered over with smooth ground
work of plaster, and it is suspended like q
huge inverted saucer over the circular
aperture in the centre of the vaulted cell
ing of the rotunda by a multitude of iror
rods attached to the ribs of the Outel
dome.
For long time past he had been Ell
gagged upon the decoration in frescO of the
belt that encircles the wall of the rOtunda
nearly hundred feet above the pavement
| The belt is about 7 feet in height and 25(
| feet in circumference, and upon it Brumi
di was engaged in painting, in imitation OF
| sculpture in altO-relievO, a series of scene:
| representing important events in the his
tory of the country. The belt is divided
into fifteen groups and the subjects chOsel
are as follows The Landing of Columbus
Cortez and Montezuma at the Temple o
the Sun Pizarro Going to Peru Burial o.
De Soto Captain Smith and Pocahontas
Landing of the Pilgrims; William Penn
and the Indians; Colonization of New
England; Oglethorpe and the Indial
Chief Battle of Lexington; Declaration
of Independence Surrender of Corvallis
Battle of the Thames and Death of Te
cumseh; Entry of the American Army
into the City of Mexico; the Discovery O
Gold in California. About half of tho
circumference of the belt is now finished
The effect is such that the figures stant
out from the background, and seem to the
eye of the spectator below to be sculp
tured in stone.
Brumidi's work Oh the capitol has beel
executed in genuine frescO, by a methot
| similar to that employed in the frescOes o
| Michael Angelo in the Sistine Chapel, thu
''Starrye' of Raphael in the Vatican, ant
of Correggio in the cupola OF tie duomO o
| Pauna, which are the most important ex
ample of the art now extant. Painting IL
fresco is done with earthly or mineral cOlOr
mixed or ground in water, which are ap
| piled to the surface of plaster OF stucct
while it is still sufficiently fresh or wet tt
imbibe and incorporate them with itself.
The painting is, in fact, a mosaic in coloret
plaster. 1t is comparatively indestructiblt
and will retain it's original color and bril-
liancy unchanged and undiminished fo
centuries in fact, as long as the wall upol
which it is painted may remain intact
In the process of execution only as mucl
surface of plaster is prepared at once a.
can be completely finished while it is still
wet. Thus the picture has to progress by
piecemeal !; each little section must bt
completed SO as to harmonize with thu
rest of the composition, and there is NJ
possibility of retouching after it is dry
Before the process of actual painting OF
the walls begins, careful and elaborate
studies of color and full-sized cartoons o.
outline drawings are prepared. From tht
cartoons the outlines are transferred di
| fn {ho or Il
perfOrOtiOns made along the lines of The
drawing, and, guided by the color studies
| the small section in hand is completed
When it is considered that the colors
when applied to the wet plaster, are mucl
darker than they will finally appear wher
dry, it will be seen what great difficulties
are encountered by the artist Signol
Brumidi, whatever may be said of his de-
signs, understood his process thoroughly
and was enthusiastic and indefatigable al
his work.
The scaffOld upon which Signor Brumid
worked, suspended high up against the
wall of the rotunda is one of the objects Of
chief interest in the capitol at the present
time, and the one to which the attention is
first called on entering the buildidg. Fol
some time he had been too feeble to ascend
the long flight of stairs leading to the scat
fold, but seated in little box or cage that
was elevated by rope passing through a
pully aloft in the dome, he was lifted
quietly and safely up to the dizzy height
where his work was progressing. A few
month ago he met with an accident that
was near resulting fatally. His scaffold
was about sixty feet above the tiled floor,
and in attempting to touch with his brush
| a point ON one side, he was forced to lean
over The chair in which he WAS seated