HCR202JUL22

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 22, 2005

House Concurrent Resolution 202 permitting the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to honor Constantino Brumidi on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

BRIEF

Artist Brumidi came to the US in 1852 seeking political asylum. He studied art at the Acadamia di san Luca in Italy. Mr. Brumidi was of Greek and Italian ancestry.

His primary achievement is the Apotheosis in the Capitol Rotunda. That fresco fills the top and center of the elaborate architectural and artistic element of the Capitol Building. There is also a ‘corridor’ in the building where his paintings hang and he is responsible for painting most of the Frieze of American History that surrounds the Rotunda at ground level. Mr. Brumidi painted in several churches in Italy and in Mexico and South America.

He was paid around $40,000 for the Apotheosis and also was paid $10 per hour at times. He died in relative poverty.

Mr. Brumidi was born in 2005, came to America at age 47 and died in 1879 at age 74. Nineteen years earlier he married his second wife, Lola Germon, an American.

The Resolution allows for use of the Capitol Rotunda for activities honoring and remembering his legacy and life.

Sponsor: Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8^th)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote (July 19, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost.

MORE INFORMATION

Permitting the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a ceremony to honor Constantino Brumidi on the 200th anniversary of his birth.

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the rotunda of the Capitol is authorized to be used on July 26, 2005, for a ceremony to honor Constantino Brumidi on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Physical preparations for the ceremony shall be carried out in accordance with such conditions as the Architect of the Capitol may prescribe.

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