United States Capitol rotunda

===''Frieze of American History''===
The ''Frieze of American History'' is painted to appear as a carved stone [[bas-relief]] [[frieze]] but is actually a [[trompe-l'œil]] fresco cycle depicting 19 scenes from American history. The "frieze" occupies a band immediately below the 36 windows. Brumidi designed the frieze and prepared a sketch in 1859 but did not begin painting until 1878. Brumidi painted seven and a half scenes. While working on ''William Penn and the Indians'', Brumidi fell off the [[scaffolding]] and held on to a rail for 15 minutes until he was rescued. He died a few months later in 1880. After Brumidi's death, [[Filippo Costaggini]] was commissioned to complete the eight and a half remaining scenes in Brumidi's sketches. He finished in 1889 and left a {{convert|31|ft|m|0|sing=on}} gap due to an error in Brumidi's original design. In 1951, [[Allyn Cox]] completed the frieze.

Except for the last three panels named by Allyn Cox, the scenes have no particular titles and many variant titles have been given. The names given here are the names used by the Architect of the Capitol, which uses the names that Brumidi used most frequently in his letters and that were used in Edward Clark and by newspaper articles. The 19 panels are:

{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
|-
! Scene
! width="15%" | Artist
! Year
! Description
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:America and History.jpg|180px|thumb|center|America and History]]'''''
|[[Constantino Brumidi]]
|1878
|This is the first panel and the only allegorical one, portraying a [[Columbia (name)|personification of America]], wearing a [[Phrygian cap|liberty cap]], with spear and shield in the center, surrounded by other allegorical figures. To the right is a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] maiden with a bow and arrows, representing the wild [[North America]]n continent. At America's feet is a female [[Clio|personification of History]], with a stone tablet to record events. To the left of History is an eagle, perched on a [[fasces]], the [[ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] bundle of [[birch]] rods symbolizing [[Auctoritas|authority]]. To the left of America is another eagle, carrying the [[olive branch]] of peace. To the center-left in the background is a man in same pose as the [[Prospecting|prospector]] at the end of "Discovery of Gold in California"; this is because Brumidi planned to have the scene connect with his planned last one.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Flickr - USCapitol - Landing of Columbus.jpg|185px|thumb|center|Landing of Columbus]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|[[Christopher Columbus]] is depicted arriving in the Americas in the first of four scenes of the Spanish conquest. Columbus disembarks off a plank from the ''[[Santa María (ship)|Santa María]]''. His crew, armed with weapons, stays aboard; one crew member has a [[Telescope|spyglass]]. Native Americans are portrayed greeting Columbus. Indian women and children are shown, along with native warriors to the right. The Columbus figure may have been based on Luigi Persico statue of Columbus, which was at the time of the painting the on the east central steps of the Capitol.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Cortez and Montezuma at Mexican Temple.jpg|185px|thumb|center|Cortez and Montezuma at Mexican Temple]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|This panel shows the Spanish [[conquistador]] [[Hernán Cortés]] entering an [[Aztec]] [[Aztec mythology|temple]], being [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire#Cortés welcomed by Moctezuma|welcomed by Moctezuma II]]. At the beginning of the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire]], [[Moctezuma II|Moctezuma]] and the Aztecs honored Cortés as a god, believing that he was the returning god [[Quetzalcoatl]]. The [[Aztec calendar stone]] and [[cult image]]s are based on sketches drawn by Brumidi in [[Mexico City]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Pizarro Going to Peru.jpg|185px|thumb|center|Pizarro Going to Peru]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|Spanish conquistador [[Francisco Pizarro]] is depicted leading his horse through the jungle in search of [[El Dorado]], the mythical land of gold, in this representation of the [[Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Burial of DeSoto.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Burial of DeSoto]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|This panel depicts the burial of Spanish explorer [[Hernando de Soto]] in the [[Mississippi River]] after his death from a [[fever]]. De Soto led the largest European expedition of both 15th and 16th centuries through the [[Southeastern United States|Southeast]] and [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] searching for gold, silver, and other valuables.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Captain Smith and Pocahontas.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Captain Smith and Pocahontas]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|[[Pocahontas]] is portrayed saving [[John Smith (explorer)|Captain John Smith]], one of the founders of [[Jamestown, Virginia]], from being clubbed to death.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Landing of the Pilgrims.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Landing of the Pilgrims]]'''''
|Constantino Brumidi
|
|[[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] led by [[William Brewster (pilgrim)|William Brewster]] give thanks to God for their safe voyage aboard the ''[[Mayflower]]'' in this scene depicting [[Plymouth Colony]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | [[File:William Penn and the Indians.jpg|180px|thumb|center|'''''William Penn and the Indians''''']]
|Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by [[Filippo Costaggini]]
|1880
|[[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]] leader and [[Province of Pennsylvania]] founder [[William Penn]] is depicted with [[Lenape]] (Delaware) Native Americans under the [[elm]] tree at [[Shackamaxon]]. This is the last panel on which Brumidi worked.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Colonization of New England.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Colonization of New England]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|This panel shows [[New England]] settlers busily [[logging]], [[saw]]ing, and using [[Timber|lumber]] to construct a building. This is the first scene painted entirely by [[Filippo Costaggini]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Oglethorpe and the Indians.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Oglethorpe and the Indians]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|[[James Oglethorpe]], founder of [[Province of Georgia|Georgia Colony]] and first [[Governor of Georgia|Georgia governor]], is shown with the [[Creek people|Muskogee]] (Creek) leaders in [[Savannah, Georgia]]. The [[Muscogee (Creek)|Muskogee]] present Oglethorpe with a [[American Bison|buffalo]] skin with an eagle in the center, a symbol of friendship and trust.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Battle of Lexington.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Battle of Lexington]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|This panel depicts the "[[shot heard 'round the world]]" at the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord|Battle of Lexington]], the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War. [[Major (UK)|Major]] [[John Pitcairn]] is shown on horseback at center, with [[British Army]] or [[Royal Marines]] troops to the right and Lexington [[militia]]men at left.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Costaggini painting--Reading of the Declaration of Independence.jpg|185px|thumb|center|Reading of the Declaration of Independence]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|Idealized depiction of [[John Adams]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and [[Benjamin Franklin]], authors of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], reading the declaration to celebrating colonists.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Surrender of Cornwallis.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Surrender of Cornwallis]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|Depiction of [[George Washington]] on horseback receiving the ceremonial sword of surrender from [[Charles O'Hara]], who represented [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Lord Cornwallis]] after the final British defeat at the [[Siege of Yorktown|Battle of Yorktown]]. In reality, it is thought that Washington declined O'Hara's sword because according to the custom of the time it would only be proper for Washington to receive the sword from Cornwallis himself; [[Major General]] [[Benjamin Lincoln]] instead accepted the sword.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Death of Tecumseh.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Death of Tecumseh]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|This panel depicts the death of [[Shawnee]] chief and Indian Confederation leader [[Tecumseh]] at the [[Battle of the Thames]] in [[Upper Canada]] during the [[War of 1812]] (partially an extension of [[Tecumseh's War]]).
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:American Army Entering the City of Mexico.jpg|185px|thumb|center|American Army Entering the City of Mexico]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|
|[[United States Army|U.S. Army]] troops led by [[Winfield Scott]] enter [[Mexico City]] after the [[Battle for Mexico City|fall of Mexico City]], which ended the [[Mexican–American War]] with a decisive U.S. victory. The 1848 [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], which provided for the massive [[Mexican Cession]] of territory in what is now the [[Western United States]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Discovery of Gold in California.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Discovery of Gold in California]]'''''
|Designed by Constantino Brumidi<br />Completed by Filippo Costaggini
|1889
|[[Prospecting|Prospectors]] [[Gold extraction|dig]] and [[Placer mining|pan]] for gold with picks, shovels, and other tools in this depiction of the [[California Gold Rush]]. In the center, three men (one possibly representing [[John Sutter]]) examine a prospector's pan. This was the last scene designed by Brumidi and painted by Costaggini.
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Peace at the End of the Civil War.jpg|180px|thumb|center|Peace at the End of the Civil War]]'''''
|[[Allyn Cox]]
|
|This scene, the first of Cox's three panels, depicts a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] soldier and a [[Union Army|Union]] soldier shaking hands at the end of the [[American Civil War]], symbolizing reconciliation and reunification. The [[cotton]] plant and the [[Eastern White Pine|Northern pine tree]] symbolize the [[Southern United States|South]] and the [[Northern United States|North]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:Naval Gun Crew in the Spanish-American War.jpg|185px|thumb|center|Naval Gun Crew in the Spanish–American War]]'''''
|Allyn Cox
|
|A group of [[United States Navy]] sailors in a gun crew are depicted in a [[naval battle]] during the [[Spanish–American War]]. and the United States won a victory over Spain in the war. The 1898 [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris]] provided for Cuba's independence from Spain and the U.S. acquisition of [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], and the [[Philippines]].
|-
| width="200px" align="center" | '''''[[File:The Birth of Aviation.jpg|185px|thumb|center|The Birth of Aviation]]'''''
|Allyn Cox
|1951
|This scene depicts the [[Wright brothers]]' first flight at [[Kitty Hawk, North Carolina|Kitty Hawk]] in 1903. The ''[[Wright Flyer]]'' is shown just off the ground, with Orville Wright in the plane and Wilbur Wright running alongside to steady the wing. To the left are [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]], and [[Octave Chanute]], other aviation pioneers, holding models of other [[early flying machines]]. An eagle holds an olive branch in the bottom right.
|}