Brumidiana Outside the United States Capitol
Reference by Charles E. Fairman to two portraits of Lola Germon painted by Brumidi and preserved in heavy gold frames that were finally sold at auction in the Capitol City of the United States in 1925 fired my interest anew in the American-born wife of Brumidi, the beautiful girl who is said to have modeled for many of the Madonnas painted on Capitol walls and ceilings. While searching for something tangible about Lola Germon I was led to an extensive inquiry as to Brumidi’s burial place.
Brumidi’s Grave
At the very point of giving up the quest for Brumidi’s grave I called all the old burial grounds in the District and asked that they search their records for a Brumidi burial in 1880. Glenwood Cemetery in Northeast Washington soon reported that Constantino Brumidi was recorded to have been buried there on February 21, 1880, in Lot 70, site 6.
On my first visit to the old section of Glenwood Cemetery I searched out Lot 70. It was surrounded by an iron fence bearing the name Germon, 1877, on a sagging gate. There was no marker on site 6, to indicate the burial place of Brumidi. It seemed clear to me that Lola Germon must have buried her artist husband in the old family burial plot since two small white stones, on sites 1 and 2 of Lot 70, evidently marked the burial places of Lola’s father and mother, the father having been buried there in 1855 and the mother some twenty years later.
As I looked upon Brumidi’s unmarked grave, the unknown grave of the artist who spent his last twenty-five years decorating the Capitol Building of the United States, I decided that sometime I would paint the little white-washed iron fence around Lot 70 as my personal tribute to those twenty-five Brumidi years. Several years went by. It was the spring of 1946 before I began painting the iron fence.
On my first painting day, as I labored, weaving highly colored fiction about the beautiful American girl and the romantic old artist, three times her age, I was startled by a young voice directly behind me which excitedly asked, “Why are you painting the fence around this Cemetery Lot?”
I turned to find a lovely girl watching my efforts with deep concern. I was so startled as to be unable to give any logical reason for painting an old fence partly hidden by poison ivy in the oldest corner of an old cemetery, so I asked the young visitor this question, “Why are you interested?” She replied quickly and firmly, “I have a right to know.”
Soon I found myself telling this girl the whole story of Brumidi and his unmarked burial place. She listened with an unbelievable concern and then launched forth with a story of her own that so far outmatched mine as to appear at first a bit of imaginative make-believe. Said she:
“All my life I have heard my people talk about this artist, Brumidi, and it seems that I have always known he was buried inside this little iron fence. His unmarked grave has had a strange fascination for me, ever since childhood. Every time I pass the cemetery in a street car I look over at this little iron fence on the hillside and think about this forgotten grave that means so much to me.
“As I was riding past today, wondering if I would forever be the only one interested in the lonesome little Brumidi fence, I suddenly thought I saw a woman painting that very fence. I kept telling myself it was not true, that I must have imagined such an unheard-of thing, and all the time my street car carried me farther and farther away. Finally, unable to stand the suspense any longer I got off the car, took a trolley back—and here I am—and there you are—,” and she stopped for breath.
Sensing my completely mystified expressions, she added, “You see, it was my great-grand aunt, Lola Germon, who modeled for the Capitol Madonnas and later married Brumidi.”
I went home with Lola Germon’s great-grandniece, Mildred Thompson, and met the Thompson family. Mildred’s mother slightly doubted my sanity for painting a cemetery fence belonging to a stranger but presently she laid before me a deed to the cemetery lot and a family album given to her by Lola Germon. Mrs. Thompson’s cemetery deed had been issued by Glenwood Cemetery to Eliza A. Germon, Lola’s mother, in 1866 and verified the cemetery records that show Brumidi as buried in Lot 70, site 6; Laurence Brumidi in site 4; and Lola Brumidi in site 5. (Only, Lola Germon Brumidi was Lola Virginia Kirkwood at the time of her death in 1918, and both she and her third husband, Edward Kirkwood, are buried in site 5.)
Lola Germon’s Album
It was a great disappointment to me that the Thompson family knew so few facts about Lola and her artist husband, but by means of Lola’s album and by word of mouth they verified certain facts in my mind.
They knew that Lola Germon had married Brumidi when she was about eighteen years old; that Laurence was their only son; that the beautiful Lola had modeled for many of the Capitol paintings; and that at one time, as Mrs. Brumidi, Lola attended a White House reception with her artist husband, in the most beautiful gown he could afford to buy.
The hallowed old album in which Lola had chosen to preserve her treasured Brumidi memories held many pictures of Brumidi, of Laurence, and of the young Lola, but for the most part all pictures were undated and unmarked—all, save one. On the back of a photograph of a very beautiful young girl (Lola Germon) were these words, written in a childish hand, “This is my lovely mama.”
Four small unmarked photographs on the last pages of the old album are of special interest since they are reproductions of religious paintings. It was my guess that they were photographs of Brumidi’s working sketches for church decorations—and to date two of these have been identified. The huge fresco over the main altar in St. Stephen’s Church in New York, some 70 feet in height, is the same “Crucifixion” as that in the little photograph in Lola’s album, and the large fresco over the main altar in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia is the same “Crucifixion” scene only with outstanding figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at the foot of the cross.
Mildred Thompson’s Collection
Mildred Thompson, Lola Germon’s great-grandniece, later salvaged a packet of old letters and legal documents from Laurence Brumidi’s trunk now stored at the home of a relative, all of which helps to unravel the tangled Brumidi story.
A deed to certain Washington property dated November 19, 1864, and signed by Constantino Brumidi and wife, Lola V. Brumidi, is the earliest document found containing Lola’s signature. The latest document in this Thompson collection signed by Lola as Mrs. Brumidi is an indenture signed by both Constantino Brumidi and Lola V. Germon Brumidi borrowing $2,500 in 1870. The next document in point of time bearing Lola’s name in this collection is a letter written to Mrs. Lola V. Walsh, 911 G St., N. W., on March 22, 1879, by a Washington lawyer announcing that he had obtained a loan of $3,500 on the premises at 921 G St. (where the old artist later died) and stating that since the deed conveying the property to Lola was in his possession she could take charge of the property and begin her repairs at once.
Sometime, then, between 1870 and 1879 Lola was evidently divorced from the Italian artist and married to a Mr. Walsh. Tax receipts, insurance receipts, and interest statements in this same Thompson collection, signed by Lola and dated from 1880 to 1892 indicate that Lola V. Walsh married a Mr. Kirkwood sometime between August 31, 1891, and August 30, 1892, at which later date a fire insurance receipt bears the signature, Mrs. Lola V. Kirkwood.
The packet of documents from Laurence’s trunk contains also the following valued items:
(1) Two letters written by “C. Brumidi” to the Architect of the Capitol—one, dated August 26, 1876, and the other dated November 26, 1879, the latter being probably the last letter ever written by the artist to the Architect. These two letters were no doubt given to Laurence from the Brumidi file by Architect Clark himself. (2) Two letters written to C. Brumidi by Senator Morrill of Vermont—one, dated May 19th (probably 1865) and the other, dated June 20, 1878. (3) A business letter from a Washington lawyer to Laurence in Paris in 1893, forwarding to him certain papers to be signed which would ultimately give him $600 from his mother. (4) Laurence’s application in Washington for a loan of $5000 in August, 1895. (5) Consummation of that $5000 loan in September, 1895, by Laurence’s mother. (6) A letter from a London artist to Laurence in Washington in 1897 in which the Londoner wrote, “I hope you are increasing your bank account and that some day we will see you back again as I suppose you long to be. Now brace up. I don’t think you will ever be happy outside Paris or Italy.” (7) Two letters from Lola V. Kirkwood to Laurence in Washington in 1902. (8) A photograph of the original working sketch of the Dome Canopy. (9) An old clipping entitled “His Wife His Model.” (10) The Bible given to C. Brumidi by the American Bible Society when the artist landed in New York in 1852.
The two Brumidi letters kept through the years by Laurence will be quoted in full, as they are further proof that Brumidi was paid by the Government of the United States for his work on the Rotunda frieze designs during his last years even when confined by illness to his studio. Brumidi’s conscientious effort to make each day profitable to his government as well as to himself is also a part of the following letter:
Washington, D. C., August 26, 1876
“Martin mentioned to me that you wished my report for the month. I lost two days, those consumed in traveling, the remainder of my stay was spent working on the cartoons.
“Now I have completed the Treaty of William Penn and the Settlement of New England, all ready for transfer in full size.
“With many thanks for your kindness and obligation.”
The following 1879 letter to Architect Clark is the only one found written by the artist himself after his almost fatal fall from the frieze on October 1, 1879:
“For answer to your desire for making the report of the time worked in the present month of Nov. 1879, I can tell to have employed all the working days in drawing the cartoons for the frieze now in progress in the Rotunda of the Capitol, and having completed the subject of Oglethorpe, and the Muskogee chief, with a portion of the Insurrection of Lexington.
“I work sometime with difficulty when I am troubled by the asthma, but after some rest I proceed with my work. I hope you will be very kind in recommending my petition to the Honorable Committee.”
C. Brumidi
Senator Morrill’s friendship for Brumidi is forever recorded in the following two letters written to the artist:
Washington, D. C., May 19th
“I expected to have returned in time to see you on Saturday. I am so well pleased with what I have that more seems unnecessary. Possibly I may in the fall or winter do a little something on the Library. If you choose to put some heads on canvas for that object you can do the three heads enclosed and get one more of Clark or such as you choose.”
Justin S. Morrill
(This letter must have been written after May, 1865, as that was the date Edward Clark became Architect of the Capitol.)
United States Senate Chamber
June 20, 1878
“I was surprised upon reaching home this morning to find an oil painting in my parlor, being a copy by your son Laurence, from Guidorini.
“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.
“Of course he cannot expect to equal you with your forty years of experience.
“I am just leaving the city and have only time to render to him my thanks.”
Justin S. Morrill
Lola Germon Kirkwood was about sixty years old and Laurence Brumidi was forty-one when the following two letters were written from the mother to the son:
Home (Richmond), May 29, 1902
“The check and ‘heads’ came safely, and would have been acknowledged sooner, but I hoped to write a longer letter, and waited for a more encouraging mood, but none came.
“I wish I could sell them for you but an art man told Mr. Kirkwood this was a poor city for such sales, the people being too poor. You see they are just about recovering from the results of the civil war. Then besides people want large showy things. In other words, they want big things for little money. They are beautiful but if I had to buy them I would too want something larger.
“I am sorry you sent anything you put so much work on. I thought I made myself plain. I wanted something big too. Even a landscape thrown roughly on. There would have been likely no visitor here to have told good work, and if asked I would have said it was sent me by a young student. But if I should get a chance to sell, you know how glad I shall be. I am quite sure if Whitney, Morgan, Carnegie or any of those great rich men were properly approached they would give perhaps thousands of dollars for the original copy of the dome, alone. I should think it would be a great thing for them to have in their private gallery. In the meantime why don’t you try a letter to these men?”
Mother
Home (Richmond), October 9, 1902
“I am sorry to hear you have been again sick, and thought as much when the letter came a little later than usual.
“Yes, when the lawyer’s letter came I found myself disappointed, though I had promised myself not to be. If we had of gotten any money you could easily put through that claim at Congress and could also have made money out of those sketches of your father’s dome pictures and others. It takes money to make money, unfortunately.
“I have always tried to coax you to keep up correspondence with Elena. I don’t know why it is but I have lived in the hope that the agent may sell enough of your father’s pictures in the fall to give you some comfort for the rest of your life. I should think the sketch of the dome alone would do that. And then I feel the moment you did not of necessity require it you would be able to sell as many of your own as you would desire. Keep up good spirits.”
With love as ever,
Mother
The photograph of the original working sketch for the Dome Canopy saved through the years in the trunk of Laurence Brumidi is clear and the figures very distinct. This photograph no doubt was mounted for the purpose of registry in the District, for beneath the picture is the following printed notation:
On the back of this picture is an Internal Revenue stamp cancelled on May 12, 1866. It was the original of this photograph, oil on canvas, some thirty-six inches in diameter, which was among the Brumidi paintings found in 1919 in Washington after being stored away for forty years.
As we examine closely the characters portrayed on the small photograph of Brumidi’s original working sketch for the Rotunda canopy, or on any canopy photographs taken in the Rotunda, the figure of Columbia is outstanding. Columbia is pictured as armed Liberty with “sword, shield, and angry eagle driving out tyranny, pestilence and fear.” However, it is the faded old clipping that Lola saved with the 1866 photograph that adds the romantic luster to Columbia in this Dome Canopy design, especially since we remember the exact words of Mildred Thompson: “Aunt Lola always said she modeled for Freedom in the Dome Canopy.” The faded clipping is quoted in full:
“Visitors to the Capitol who admire the beautiful decorative work to be seen in the rotunda and in the corridors, especially on the Senate end of the building, will find additional interest in the work of the artist when they learn the source of his inspiration for many of the female figures that appear in the designs.
“The aged artist, Brumidi, whose brush did most of the most beautiful of the decorative work of the Capitol, married in Washington, D. C., Miss Lola Germon, a young lady well known for her beauty, which has been perpetuated in many of the paintings executed by her husband. Features a little too well rounded to be thoroughly classic, black hair, a fair complexion and blue eyes, together with a shapely form, were the characteristics of Mrs. Brumidi. She was greatly admired not only for her beauty of person, but for her qualities of mind, which made her a general favorite in that city. One of the figures in the ceiling of the rotunda is said to be an exact likeness of the artist’s beautiful wife, while most of the figures he painted in the Capitol portray some of her characteristics.”
The old Bible given to Mr. Brumidi by the American Bible Society in 1852 when the artist landed in New York no doubt was originally saved by Lola Germon for her son Laurence. On the inside front cover are these words written in the C. Brumidi hand:
“Constantino Brumidi from Rome, Italy, arrived in New York, America, the 18th of September, 1852. Presented to me by the American Bible Society.”
The only other writing in the Bible is the following on a blank page for births—also in the C. Brumidi hand:
Constantino Brumidi born in Rome, July 26th, 1805, by Stauro Brumidi of Shiliatra, province of Arcadia in the Peloponnesus (Greece) and Ann Bianchini of Rome.
Daughter, Maria Elena Brumidi born in Rome the 15th of August 1832.
Sons, Joseph Brumidi, born in Rome, 17th January, 1842; Laurence S. Brumidi born in Washington, D. C. (America) May 12th 1861.
Brumidi Working Sketches
Brumidi’s technique is of great interest. First, he executed his design in color on a small canvas in oil. This he termed a working sketch. Then he drew the large outline figures which he called cartoons with the miniature oil before him. These large cartoons served as stencils through which he dusted powder or charcoal, thus outlining his groups quickly upon the wall or ceiling.
The Brumidi working sketches found in Washington during recent years are in a wonderfully fine state of preservation, whether they have come directly from the hand of Lola Germon or from Laurence Brumidi’s storage cache found in 1919, or from other sources. Most of the canvases have in no manner been restored or retouched but the colors are soft and true and pleasing. Those art lovers who fear that certain Capitol decorations may have suffered by “restorations” have but to compare the Capitol fresco with its working sketch to be reassured.
Mrs. Ashmun Brown owns working sketches for four of the frescoes in the Capitol Building, “History,” “Physics,” and “The Three Graces” in the District of Columbia Committee Room of the Senate, and for the “Cornwallis-Washington” mural in the House of Representatives Chamber. Mrs. Brown also has the Brumidi working sketches for four of his religious paintings.
In addition to being the grandniece of Lola Germon, Mrs. Brown is the wife of the late Ashmun Brown, the Washington correspondent who wrote the Capitol officials back in 1925 advising them that an auction of Brumidi paintings was scheduled, and urging the Government to investigate the treasures. Mrs. Brown received four of her Brumidi paintings direct from Aunt Lola Germon, and five more were purchased at the auction in 1925. She regrets not having bought, at that auction, the two portraits of Lola Germon by Brumidi, as these two paintings have not yet been found.
Mrs. Harvey Hunt who attended the Brumidi auction of 1925 with Mrs. Ashmun Brown, purchased four of the Brumidi paintings. Two of these are working sketches of cherubs, one bearing the Brumidi signature; another, a sketch of Lola Germon used for “Prudence” in the Senate Reception Room; and the fourth, an oval landscape much like those painted on the walls of the main corridor on the ground floor of the Senate Annex.
Mrs. Hunt being a grandniece of Lola Germon gave three of her treasures to a grandnephew of her Aunt Lola so today three of these working sketches are in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank B. Germon.
Mrs. McCook Knox owns the two original working sketches for “Telegraph” and “Columbia Welcoming the South Back into the Union”—“Telegraph” being one of four large lunettes in the main District of Columbia Committee Room of the Senate while the fresco depicting the Civil War theme covers the ceiling in this Committee’s ante-room. This ante-room was originally the Senate Sergeant at Arms’ office.
Mrs. Knox purchased her oil studies from Mr. H. O. Bishop. Her study of “Telegraph” was reproduced in the Washington Star in 1919 as one of the originals stored away for 40 years. Both of the above mentioned pictures now owned by Mrs. Knox were purchased by Mr. Bishop at the C. G. Sloan auction rooms in 1925.
Captain Alexander Macomb, U. S. Navy, inherited nine Brumidi working sketches from his father, Colonel Augustus C. Macomb. These paintings can be traced to the same Captain Meigs with whom Brumidi carried on early correspondence. Being such a prolific painter, Brumidi, no doubt, remembered his friends generously with original sketches.
At the death of General Meigs in 1892, his Brumidi originals were given to a nephew, Lieutenant Augustus C. Macomb, who later became a Colonel in the United States Army. The present Captain Alexander Macomb who now owns the nine Brumidi working sketches has given them the best of care through the years. Two of these Macomb canvases are the working sketches for frescoes in the Appropriations Committee Room of the Senate—“The Battle of Lexington” and “The Storming of Stony Point.” A third canvas is the sketch of the entire groined arch in the ceiling of the Senate Reception Room and displays the four allegorical groupings—“Liberty,” “Plenty,” “War,” and “Peace.”
Captain Macomb tells how his father traveled from one army post to another over a quarter of a century taking with him his family and his household possessions and always the beautiful Brumidi paintings went along. Those nine Brumidi originals hung in an adobe house at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona, from 1900 to 1905.
Mrs. Edmund B. Montgomery who owns the working sketch for the Dome Canopy, now has it hanging in Collingwood near Mount Vernon where it can easily be seen by visitors. This Dome Canopy sketch, some 35 inches in diameter, was also in the “storage find” of 1919 and sold at auction, according to Mrs. Ashmun Brown, for $300 in 1925. This sketch is definitely authenticated by means of the circular photograph saved in Laurence Brumidi’s trunk and bearing the Internal Revenue Stamp dated May 12, 1866. It is indeed fortunate that we have located not only the original working sketch of this Dome Canopy but a photograph of this sketch made in 1866 originally owned by the artist himself and saved for us by Laurence Brumidi, son of the Capitol fresco painter.
Warrenton House owns, and has on display in Warrenton, Virginia, the working sketch of the group painting in the Senate Reception Room—Washington, Jefferson and Hamilton in consultation. This small painting about ten inches square no doubt was originally sold at the Sloan auction in 1925.
Mrs. Murray Russell is the owner of two portraits done by Brumidi. These are of added interest as Brumidi treasures because of the story attached to them. The paintings portray the grandparents of Mrs. Russell—Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Joyce. According to Mrs. Russell, it was her grandmother’s brother, John Norris, a student in Rome around 1850 studying to be a priest, who influenced Brumidi to come to America with him in 1852. Brumidi is reported to have lived at the Joyce home in Washington at one time and so great was his appreciation for this haven that he painted the portraits of his benefactors, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Joyce.
Ceylon M. Boswell purchased at auction several years ago the portrait of a woman. The painting bore the Brumidi signature and has hung in the Boswell home where it has received excellent care. By means of a small photograph in Lola Germon’s album, we have been able recently to identify the likeness as that of Mrs. Edward Clark, wife of Mr. Clark who was Capitol architect during most of the time Brumidi painted at the Capitol Building.
Two paintings in the Washington, D. C., home of Dr. Edward C. Morse have been in the family since about 1875. One is the portrait of Dr. Morse’s maternal grandfather bearing the Brumidi signature, while the other is a copy of the famous “Titian’s Daughter.” The latter bears no signature but both pictures have been known as Brumidi’s through the years. Each bears the label of having been originally framed by “McElroy’s Art Store, 1003 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C.”
Miss Charlotte Clark, late of Sandwich, Mass., granddaughter of Edward Clark, Architect of the Capitol from 1865 to 1902, had inherited from her parents two family portraits painted by Brumidi. One of these is the portrait of Mrs. Edward Clark holding her small son, Watson Clark. The other is that of Edward Clark’s twin daughters.
In Lola Germon’s old album are two small faded photographs, one of Mrs. Clark and baby, the other of twin girls. These two pictures were evidently used as studies at the time Brumidi painted the large portraits for the Clark family.
Edith Smith Hawes has inherited the working sketch for the altar mural, “Crucifixion,” in St. Stephen’s Church, New York City. It was given to Mrs. Hawes’ father, Amzi Smith, by Brumidi during the years Mr. Smith had charge of the Senate Document Room.
Mrs. Hawes remembers having heard her father tell often of his close friendship with the Capitol artist. Her father’s most vivid story told of Brumidi’s hasty visit one day to the Senate Document Room and how the artist said to her father, “Amzi, please sit down and put your hand on the arm of that chair.” Mr. Smith obeyed. Mr. Brumidi sketched rapidly. As the artist left he called back, “Here I go to put Amzi Smith’s hand on Thomas Jefferson.” “And,” says Mrs. Hawes, “I still visit the Senate Reception Room to see my father’s hand on the great Jefferson.”
The Sisters of the Visitation Convent in Bethesda tell that in January, 1878, Sister Aloysius Gardiner of the Visitation Convent on Connecticut Avenue and L Streets, where the Mayflower Hotel is now situated, celebrated the “Silver Jubilee of her profession.” At that time her uncle, Mr. Philip Simms of New Orleans, wishing to commemorate the event in a fitting manner, employed the artist, Constantino Brumidi, to paint a large picture for the Convent chapel. The subject was “The Apparition of our Lord to Saint Margaret Mary.” The canvas measured 17 feet in height with the figures life-size.
The painting was done by Brumidi in the Distribution Hall of the old Convent school and then hung in the chapel over the altar for forty-one years. In 1919 when the old Convent was sold and the Sisters moved to their new Convent in Bethesda, Maryland, the Brumidi painting was found to be too large for the new chapel so it was given to Holy Trinity Church, Georgetown, where it still adorns a side wall near the altar.
St. Aloysius Church in the Capitol City displays three paintings by Brumidi—the large mural over the central altar and two medallions over the side altars. The church is especially proud of the central mural as Brumidi painted into the picture the likeness of Father Sestini, architect of the church and friend of Brumidi.
The diary of the St. Aloysius Church has the following entry dated October 3, 1859, “Today the picture over the main altar is finished and the last scaffolding is removed from the church.”
Another entry in the church diary of interest to us here is dated February 19, 1880, “Father Sestini came in the evening in response to a letter sent him by Mr. Brumidi’s adopted son, telling him that his master was dying and wished him present but Father Sestini was too late as he (Mr. Brumidi) had already died in the morning. The eminent artist and Father Sestini are intimate friends and it was through their united efforts that St. Aloysius Church received the beautiful pictures it now possesses. Though Mr. Brumidi was not always a practicing Catholic he was induced to practice his religious duties during the last year of his life by Father Sestini. May he rest in peace.”
The author was able to identify in St. Stephen’s Church in New York, another Brumidi painting—a life-size portrait of the Christ, displayed in a gilded frame. St. Stephen’s had no written record and no word-of-mouth record that this outstanding portrait had been done by Brumidi but always the painting had occupied a choice location in the church because of its strength and beauty. One of the little photographs of religious groupings saved by Lola Germon in her old album of memories served as identification for the New York portrait to the satisfaction of the author and to the surprise and gratification of the pastor.
The Brumidi Desk
The Brumidi desk was given by the Italian artist to George Strieby at the time of the artist’s death. Mr. Strieby not only was a friend of Brumidi’s but was employed to help the artist with the huge mural in St. Aloysius Church. The desk was cherished by Mr. Strieby and at his death was given to his son, Philip. During the lifetime of Philip the Brumidi desk occupied an honored place in the young Strieby household. At Philip’s death a relative cleaned out the old desk, without the knowledge of Mrs. Strieby, and burned certain of Brumidi’s famous “cartoons” that had been used in making the Capitol frescoes in the President’s Room and which had been stored through the years in the secret compartment of the old artist’s desk. However, Mrs. Philip Strieby continued to watch over the desk with consistent vigilance—out of sentiment for her husband, her father-in-law and Brumidi.
It was of great interest to Mrs. Strieby to learn that I had found the name of George W. Strieby listed as “fresco painter” in the two old Time Books in the Architect’s office at the Capitol which books consistently give the earnings both of Strieby and of Brumidi during the last three years of Brumidi’s life—1877, 1878, and 1879. In many instances the Strieby signature followed the Brumidi signature in the old Time Books in spite of an otherwise alphabetical listing of Capitol employees. All of this lends credence to the story of Mrs. Strieby that Philip’s father loved the old artist, helped him through his last hard years, and finally shared responsibility for the burial of Brumidi in Glenwood Cemetery.
The Brumidi desk is of Cuban mahogany on wild cherry, made around 1820. It has recently been restored with great skill by Charles McGahan who has given it a fine finish and a dignified beauty that speaks of Brumidi and his art.
The old desk is on display in Congressman Murdock’s office—held in trust for Mrs. Strieby until such time as it can be a part of a Brumidi memorial cared for by the Government of the United States. Mrs. Strieby died one week after urging the author to take over responsibility for the desk. She did not live to see the restored beauty of Brumidi’s last gift to Grandfather Strieby, but she was happy knowing that her obligation to Brumidi and to his good friend, Grandfather Strieby, had been fulfilled.
National Recognition
The Congress of the United States recently voted an appropriation which provided a marker and perpetual care for the long lost grave of Constantino Brumidi in Glenwood Cemetery. This legislation was signed by President Truman on June 30, 1950. The marker will soon be put in place with appropriate ceremony and loving tribute.
Even the best 1950 eulogy to Constantino Brumidi, however, cannot surpass the simple statement of appreciation and understanding offered on the Floor of the Senate of the United States soon after the death of the great artist. Said Senator Voorhees of Indiana on February 24, 1880:
“Mr. Brumidi was engaged at the time of his death on what he regarded as the greatest work of his life. He was unfolding with the magic of genius in the Dome of the Capitol the scroll of American history, from the landing of Columbus to the present day. He earnestly desired to live long enough to complete this vast conception. But he has left an empty chair, and his great design unfinished, as others have done and will continue to do in other places.
“At no distant day some memorial will be erected in some appropriate place in the Capitol to his memory. 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 this Capitol will hold his fame fresh and ever increasing as long as they themselves shall stand.”