“Yes, when the lawyer’s letter came I found myself disappointed, though I had promised myself not to be. If we had of gotten any money you could easily put through that claim at Congress and could also have made money out of those sketches of your father’s dome pictures and others. It takes money to make money, unfortunately. “I have always tried to coax you to keep up correspondence with Elena. I don’t know why it is but I have lived in the hope that the agent may sell enough of your father’s pictures in the fall to give you some comfort for the rest of your life. I should think the sketch of the dome alone would do that. And then I feel the moment you did not of necessity require it you would be able to sell as many of your own as you would desire. Keep up good spirits.” With love as ever, MOTHER The photograph of the original working sketch for the Dome Canopy saved through the years in the trunk of Laurence Brumidi is clear and the figures very distinct. This photograph no doubt was mounted for the purpose of registry in the District, for beneath the picture is the following printed notation: “Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1866 by Constantino Brumidi, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia.” On the back of this picture is an Internal Revenue stamp cancelled on May 12, 1866. It was the original of this photograph, oil on canvas, some thirty-six inches in diameter, which was among the Brumidi paintings found in 1919 in Washington after being stored away for forty years. As we examine closely the characters portrayed on the small photograph of Brumidi’s original working sketch for the Rotunda canopy, or on any canopy photographs taken in the Rotunda, the figure of Columbia is outstanding. Columbia is pictured as armed Liberty with “sword, shield, and angry eagle driving out tyranny, pestilence and fear.” However, it is the faded old clipping that Lola saved with the 1866 photograph that adds the romantic luster to Columbia in this Dome Canopy design, especially since we remember the exact words of Mildred Thompson: “Aunt Lola always said she modeled for Freedom in the Dome Canopy.” The faded clipping is quoted in full: “Visitors to the Capitol who admire the beautiful decorative work to be seen in the rotunda and in the corridors, especially on the Senate end of the building, will find additional interest in the work of the artist when they learn the source of his inspiration for many of the female figures that appear in the designs.