A resolution honoring the life and legacy of Constantino Brumidi and recognizing his contributions to the United States on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Whereas Constantino Brumidi was born in Rome, Italy, on July 26, 1805, to an Italian mother and a Greek father who inspired his lifelong love of liberty and freedom of expression;

Whereas Constantino Brumidi emigrated to the United States from Rome in 1852 and became a naturalized citizen in 1857;

Whereas Constantino Brumidi established a reputation for excellence in his craft that led to him being known as the Michelangelo of the Capitol;

Whereas Constantino Brumidi represents the many immigrant artists and craftsmen who have contributed over the years to the design and decoration of the United States Capitol;

Whereas Constantino Brumidi painted murals and other outstanding artworks in the United States Capitol over the last third of his life, between 1855 and 1880, including the first fresco painted in the United States, in what is today the House Appropriations Committee Room, the famous Brumidi Corridor on the Senate side of the Capitol, and the paintings in the President’s Room (S–216);

Whereas Constantino Brumidi painted The Apotheosis of George Washington and began the frieze of American history on the interior of the dome above the Rotunda at the center of the United States Capitol, but died while working on sketches for the frieze;

Whereas Constantino Brumidi succeeded in his effort to encourage the use of the Capitol as a living testament to the past, present, and glorious future of the United States of America with his artwork, especially with his murals; and

Whereas Constantino Brumidi’s celebration of the liberty he found in America can be seen in his signature on his painting that he was an Artist Citizen of the United States and in his statement on being hired for his first Capitol commission that, I no longer have any desire for fame or fortune. My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.: Now, therefore, be it