The Colorado statesman., 1913-05-17

the dome. This ring of lime and
sand winds around the rotunda ut
that height where the masonry of the
central pile ends and the iron of the
dome begins. 1t is directly over an
entablature which is supported by
twelve Grecian antae. On this plas-
ter band, the width of which is nine
feet, stand, kneel. march and fight
thirteen groups of pallid figures de-
signed to tell the story Of the discov-
cry of the new world and of the birth
and growth of the great republic.
They seem like eff1gies cut in stone,
but these sculptured images of men,
women and things were carved not
with mallet and chisel, but with
brush and palette.
The length of this belt is 304 feet
and of this girth the paintings
occupy PIT feet The groups, which
begin over the west door of the ro7
tunda, circle to the north, turn to
the east, curve to the south and then
bend away to the west again. but do
not extend to the place of beginning,
between which and the final group
there is a gaping space of twenty
seven feet of bald wall. ugly in its
nakedness and blotched with CRIME.
The creator of the statue-fresco of
the Capitol was Constantine Brumidi,
and his assistant and successor was
Filippo Costaggini Both are dead,
though Costaggini waited a long time
for an opportunity to complete the
frieze. His son was recent visitor
1h4 nr.nr
Washington during the administra-
tion of President Buchanan. His
biographer has said that he was Rom
an born, but had studied painting
and architecture at the Academia di
San Lucca and for three years prac-
ticed the art of fresco on the walls OF
the Vatican when Gregory vi. was
pontfff When the French entered
Rome Brumidi, captain in the Papal
Guards, was imprisoned, but released
through the intercession of Pope
Plus TX. He then came to the United
States, landing at New York in 1S49.
He became an American by natural
ization in 1852 and went to Mexico in
1854. In the period between his ar
rival and departure he painted fres-
in New York city and the Catholic
Cathedral in Philadelphia. He re-
turned from Mexico and at the in
stance of the joint committee of the
library was employed to decorate the
interior walls of the Capitol. Exam
pies of his art may be seen on the
walls of the corridors in the senate
wing and in numerous committee
rooms on the house and senate sides.
His "Apotheosis of Washington" the
fresco forming the ceiling of the
dome, is thought to be one of the
great frescoes, of the western world
Il will fresco statues there" said
Brumidi 1t has been written that
Brumidi proceeded with the creation
of Chiaroscura drawings in distemper
drawings so deceptive in the artful
distribution of light and shade that
the white figures stand like marble
against the brown background. With
opaque earthly pigments mixed with
weak glue instead of oil, he wrote
history on green plaster. 1t was true
4 frescoe and not fresco secco that he
did"
Brumidi was stricken with sickness
and died in 1880. The work on the
frieze was carried on after his death
by Costaggini, who used for his text
the cartoon drawn by the master. IL
has been thought that Brumidi's de-
sign under Brumidi's treatment wouls
have filled the belt, but that Costag-
gini somewhat crowded the figures SO
that the fresco did not reach all the
way around. When the cartoons
were exhausted the fresco was sus-
pended, and so long has it been sus-
pended that it is now pointed to as
1.-THE Abandoned Fresco."