[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 39 (Thursday, March 11, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2609-S2610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BRUMIDI IN NEW YORK

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to call the Senate's 
attention to works of an artist with whom we are all quite familiar. 
Constantino Brumidi is famous for having painted much of the fine 
murals here in the Capitol. What is not as yet known, however, is that 
his other major body of work, in fact the only other great body of work 
in the United States, is at the Our Lady of the Scapular & St. 
Stephen's Church (St. Stephen's) in New York City. Located on 29th 
Street and Third Avenue on Manhattan's East Side, St. Stephens is home 
to many Brumidi masterpieces, including a mural of the crucifixion 
which is believed to be the largest of its kind in the world. At one 
time, St. Stephen's was home to the New York City Arch Diocese and the 
largest Catholic Church in New York.
  Unfortunately, many of the paintings and murals have fallen into 
disrepair and are in need of restoration. The church has undertaken a 
campaign to raise the funds necessary to complete this task. I am 
hopeful that some government funds may be available as well, perhaps 
through the Save America's Treasures program. Our own Barbara Wolanin 
from the Architect of the Capitol's office is familiar with St. 
Stephen's and their efforts to preserve their collection of Brumidis. I 
invite my colleagues to visit St. Stephen's the next time they are in 
New York and see the other body of work by the artist we have all come 
to love.
  Mr. President, I ask that an article written by members of St. 
Stephen's about their Brumidi collection be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

   Constantino Brumidi--Artist of the Capitol--Classical Artist and 
                   Decorator of St. Stephen's Church

       In a new publication, Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the 
     Capitol, Barbara Wolanin (curator for the architect of the 
     Capitol) and a host of other scholars present the first in

[[Page S2610]]

     depth biography of this important painter whose work at the 
     Capitol has recently been restored.
       In addition to ``The Apotheosis of George Washington'' 
     which adorns the Capitol dome in the Rotunda, Brumidi painted 
     in the House of Representatives Chamber, the President's 
     Room, the Senate Reception Room, and throughout many of the 
     corridors of our nation's Capitol. The first floor Senate 
     corridors of the Capitol are known as the ``Brumidi 
     Corridors.''
       Ms. Wolanin brings to our attention the fact that a large 
     body of Constantino Brumidi's work is in a Catholic church in 
     New York City. The Order of Carmelites, who serve the parish 
     of Our Lady of the Scapular & St. Stephen's Church in the 
     Rosehill District of Manhattan, have invested over a million 
     dollars of their own funds to restore the exterior of their 
     Romanesque Revival church built to the designs of the 
     architect James Renwick Jr. in 1854 (Mr. Renwick also 
     designed the Smithsonian Castle and the Renwick Gallery). 
     This initial investment has halted deterioration of the many 
     frescoes, murals and decorative elements by Brumidi on the 
     church's interior walls.
       Brumidi's mural of the Crucifixion behind the main altar of 
     the church is believed to be the largest of its kind in the 
     world. Brumidi's frescoes of David, the Madonna and Child and 
     St. Cecilia on the south wall, once neglected and in danger 
     of irreversible damage, have been restored by Constance 
     Silver of Preservar in an effort to understand the 
     composition of the underlying wall and the materials and 
     techniques Brumidi used. The goal of the Carmelites is to 
     fully restore the baroque interior of the church, which may 
     be the only one of its kind in America.
       Examples of ``trompe l'oeil,'' Brumidi's scheme of 
     architectural illusion which originally united all of the 
     artistic and architectural elements of the church, have been 
     exposed for study and may be seen on the partially restored 
     south wall.
       From the mid 1850's through the early 1870's when not 
     working at the Capitol, Brumidi traveled to New York to work 
     at St. Stephen's. Today, the parish serves a small and 
     thriving community. In the 19th century, however, due to a 
     massive immigration of Irish fleeing the Great Famine, St. 
     Stephen's Church became, for a time, the largest and most 
     influential Catholic parish in the United States.

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