“As you know I painted a group of figures in the frieze with the permission of the Library Committee, to prove that I understood the ancient method of Fresco painting, that is, the method of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The frieze is painted in that method and of course must be completed in the mode of the great Italian Master, that of “lime painting on wet plaster.” Mr. Whipple died in 1928. The frieze is still unfinished and still of current interest. On August 17, 1950, the President of the United States signed a Joint Resolution, H. J. Res. 21, “To provide for the utilization of the unfinished portion of the historical frieze in the Rotunda of the Capitol to portray (1) the Civil War, (2) the Spanish-American War, and (3) the birth of aviation in the United States.” Each new effort to finish the Rotunda Frieze is a testimony to the artist, Brumidi, and to his inimitable work. Should an artist well schooled in the Italian fresco process not be found to finish the frieze it is the author’s thought that the problem might be solved by adorning the blank portion of the Rotunda belt with a memorial inscription to Constantino Brumidi. [Illustration] Color Reproductions OF Brumidi Frescoes in the United States Capitol [Illustration: BRUMIDI’S FRESCOED CANOPY IN THE EYE OF THE DOME The Dome Canopy as here pictured was photographed from the exact center of the Rotunda, 180 feet below. Unavoidably, the balcony around the Eye of the Dome hides the outer portion of all six allegorical groups. In order to make individual “close-ups” of these groups our photographer went to the top balcony of the Dome at night, carrying his own lighting equipment. His six kodachromes, each made at a distance of 65 feet, the diameter of the Dome at this point, follow: (S. D. Wyeth’s six-page booklet, printed in 1866, gives the “Description of Brumidi’s Allegorical Painting within the Canopy of the Rotunda.” Since Brumidi finished this canopy in 1865 we may reasonably suppose that Wyeth’s interpretations came directly from the artist. For this reason Wyeth’s own legends are quoted on the following six pages.)] [Illustration: AGRICULTURE “CERES, the Goddess of Harvests and the Fields, with the Horn of Plenty, is in the center. _Young America_, with Liberty Cap, of red, the _bonnet rouge_ of France, having under his control a pair of vigorous horses hitched to an American Reaper, in conscious pride is exhibiting his skill. The background is a luxuriant mass of prolific vegetation. _Flora_ is gathering flowers, and, hovering near, is a cherub. Beyond is _Pomona_ with a basket of fruit.” WYETH--1866] [Illustration: MECHANICS