“In this very cold weather I am compelled to suspend the work in the Rotunda where [Illustration: WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE Another lunette painted by Brumidi high on the walls of the old Senate Committee Room on Military Affairs was named by Brumidi, “Washington at Valley Forge.” This portrayal of our Revolutionary General was evidently painted with these words of Washington in mind: “We have this day no less than 2,873 men in camp unfit for duty because they are barefooted and otherwise naked ... numbers are still obliged to sit all night by fires.” (December 23, 1777.) Could the two soldiers with Washington be Brumidi’s conception of Baron Steuben and Lafayette?] the heating is not enough to prevent the frost at the surface of the mortar, that does not remain soft long enough upon the wall for absorbing the colors till the piece of the day would be completed, causing injury to the work; for this reason I ask the permission to suspend the fresco work for some weeks until the weather will be not so cold. “I am proceeding with the cartoon of The Landing of the Pilgrims, where I have no need of the laborer’s assistance.” C. BRUMIDI Orkney Springs, August 11, 1879 “In the month of July you agreed to my request to draw the cartoons in my studio. “A short time before I was attacked by the asthma and finding no relief, was advised to leave the City by Dr. Thompson, and decided to come here. I suffered only during the night which was very fortunate as it permitted me to work in the day. I have completed three cartoons representing the treaty of William Penn and Settlement of New England which comprises two cartoons. I have brought one with me on which I work every day. I find the air a great benefit to me, the water also and expect to be able to continue the Fresco very soon.” C. BRUMIDI Washington, D. C., August 18, 1879 “Saturday 16th I returned in the city, and ready to proceed with the work in fresco (with your permission). Three cartoons are near completed. I am improved in the general health, that was the object of my trip and not for the pleasure.” C. BRUMIDI [Illustration: LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS Of the fifteen historical groups planned by Brumidi for the frescoed frieze encircling the Rotunda, the “Landing of the Pilgrims” is the one in which the attitude of prayer predominates. This frieze is 9 feet wide and 58 feet from the Rotunda floor. Brumidi was 72 years old when he began its execution but he had drawn the plans probably twenty years earlier.]