Lola Germon is responsible for the early preservation of this little sketch of Brumidi’s nine beautiful maidens. It was a gift to Mrs. Ashmun Brown from her Aunt Lola. These maidens as painted in fresco on the ceiling of the District of Columbia Committee Room of the Senate are reproduced elsewhere in this book. This working sketch has had tender care, the colors being as softly beautiful today as those in the ceiling fresco itself.] This letter from Laurence S. Brumidi stirs many a question but the next truth uncovered about Laurence Brumidi left only silent years following the letter from Paris. Laurence was admitted to St. Elizabeth’s asylum in Washington, D. C., on May 26, 1916, and, according to the St. Elizabeth records, he died there on November 9, 1920, at the age of fifty-four. Since the birth records at the Vital Statistics Bureau of the District of Columbia go back only as far as 1872, it has been impossible to find a record of the birth of Laurence. The District Records in the Marriage License Bureau of the Muncipal Court in Washington do not record a marriage for Mr. Brumidi in the early 1860’s. The marriage, of course, could have taken place in any nearby city. In 1879 Mr. Brumidi made a Will which was filed, but not probated. In this Will, a copy of which follows, the artist referred to Laurence as “my boy,” bequeathed to him all of his “estate and property, real and personal” and made no mention of Laurence’s mother or of his half-sister, Elena, in Italy: Washington, D. C., June 27, 1879 “In the name of God, Amen, “I, Constantino Brumidi, of No. 921 G. Street, Washington, D. C., make this my last will. “I give, devise and bequeath all my estate and property, real and personal, to my boy, named, called and known by the name of Laurence S. Brumidi, as follows, that is to say: “All engravings, works of art, paintings and apparatus pertaining thereto that I now or may hereafter possess; all designs or sketches and tracings for the frieze of the Capitol of the United States and any other purpose; my gold watch and chain, bookcase, library and all objects and things in my room; all money that I have in possession, or that may be due me at the time of my demise, from the United States government or any other source. “These things and any or all property, real and personal, that I may now have or may hereafter possess do I convey to said Laurence S. Brumidi, to be enjoyed by him, his heirs or assigns, forever, free from all claim or claims of any, every and all persons, whomsoever, claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof, by, under or through me or any of my heirs. “I appoint Robert Mason of Washington, D. C., my executor, who shall receive no reward.” CONSTANTINO BRUMIDI