Of the five portraits in color of Washington’s first cabinet, painted by Brumidi on the walls of the President’s room, that of Thomas Jefferson is considered by many to be the most lifelike. Brumidi gave Jefferson the favored location beneath the portrait of George Washington, thus bestowing honor on the Secretary of State, the highest ranking Cabinet officer. The delicate graceful carvings of the picture frame are another Brumidi delusion. Both the portrait and the frame are painted in oil on dry plaster. Mr. Fairman suggests that there is enough resemblance between the Brumidi Jefferson and the Trumbull Jefferson in _the Declaration of Independence_ in the Rotunda “upon which to base a theory that Brumidi was at least influenced by the work of Trumbull.”] [Illustration: WASHINGTON-JEFFERSON-HAMILTON Brumidi was paid $500 for this mural of Washington-Jefferson-Hamilton on the south wall of the Senate Reception Room as indicated by an 1873 voucher. Portions of two empty medallions showing in this reproduction beyond the “decorative figures in light and shade (chiaroscuro)” remind us of Brumidi’s sorrowful words in 1874: “Now many panels remain empty, disfiguring the elaborate ornaments and gilded mouldings around them, which sooner or later must be completed.”] [Illustration: WASHINGTON AT YORKTOWN This Cornwallis-Washington mural on the wall of the House of Representatives Chamber was criticized in 1857 as “unsuited to halls of deliberation where calm thought and unimpassioned reason are supposed to reside.” For architectural reasons, however, the painting will presently be removed from the House Chamber to a spot more accessible to ardent friends of Brumidi. On the strap of the brief case, lower right, is the famous Brumidi signature, “C. Brumidi, artist. Citizen of the U. S.” (Brumidi’s Dome Canopy signature can be found on page 52.)] [Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Brumidi’s choice of Benjamin Franklin as an American statesman to represent “History” in the decorative scheme of the frescoed ceiling of the President’s Room is appropriate. It may be that one of the half dozen sheets of parchment shown in the picture is meant to represent the Declaration of Independence, and the five others to represent the Constitution of the United States. Franklin helped to write both of these immortal documents. It has been said that Franklin is here at once easily recognized since this picture contains “all the characteristics of his many portraits and statues which are generally known.”] [Illustration: STORMING OF STONY POINT