[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI'S BICENTENNIAL IN 2005

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                           HON. JOHN L. MICA

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, today, on Constantino Brumidi's 198th 
birthday, I have introduced a resolution which will honor, in 
conjunction with his bicentennial in 2005, the life and work of this 
Italian immigrant who spent 25 years painting, decorating and making 
beautiful the United States Capitol.
  In January of 2005, the Capitol Visitor Center is scheduled to open, 
marking the largest expansion ever to the United States Capitol. I am 
introducing this resolution now in order to have time to coincide what 
will be a momentous occasion with the 200th anniversary of Brumidi's 
birth. Mr. Speaker, I believe it is fitting that we celebrate the 
opening of the CVC while concurrently honoring the man who sacrificed 
so much to adorn this very building with such beauty.
  Constantino Brumidi was born almost 200 years ago in Italy and lived 
there until 1850, working as an artist in Rome and the Vatican where he 
had many commissions, including a famous portrait of Pope Pius IX. In 
1852, due to political upheavals in Rome, Brumidi immigrated to the 
United States and immediately applied for citizenship. From then on, he 
dedicated the rest of his life to making the United States Capitol one 
of the most impressive structures in our great Nation.
  In 1865, Brumidi spent 11 months dangerously high atop the Capitol 
Rotunda laboring on his masterpiece, ``The Apotheosis of Washington,'' 
in the eye of the Capitol dome. Six years later he created the first 
tribute to an African-American in the Capitol when he placed the figure 
of Crispus Attucks at the center of his painting of the Boston 
Massacre. And in 1878, at the age of 72 and in poor health, Brumidi 
began work on the Rotunda frieze, which chronicles the history of the 
United States.
  Constantino Brumidi's life and work exemplifies the lives of millions 
of immigrants who came to the United States, who came here to escape 
adverse conditions in their native lands, who through their skills and 
hard work bettered their lives and the lives of their children, while 
immensely enriching the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge prompt consideration of this resolution.

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