The Art Collection

General Winfield Scott is shown during the Mexican War, entering the capital. Peace came in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which fixed the Mexican-American border at the Rio Grande River and recognized the accession of Texas. The treaty also extended the boundaries of the United States to the Pacific. (1847)

Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto died of a fever while searching for gold in Florida and the territory north of the Gulf of Mexico. To protect his body from enemies, his men buried him at night in the Mississippi River, which he had been the first European to discover. (1542)

Early settlers cut and saw trees and use the lumber to construct a building, possibly a warehouse for their supplies.

The Spaniard Hernando Cortez, conqueror of Mexico, enters the Aztec temple in 1519. He is welcomed by Emperor Montezuma II, who thought Cortez was a god. The calendar stone and idols are based on sketches that artist Constantino Brumidi made in Mexico City. (1520)

This painting depicts the ceremony in which Pocahontas, daughter of the influential Algonkian chief Powhatan, was baptized and given the name Rebecca in an Anglican church.

This painting depicts the moment on June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress.

This painting depicts the Pilgrims on the deck of the ship Speedwell on July 22, 1620, before they departed from Delfs Haven, Holland, for North America, where they sought religious freedom.

The painting General George Washington Resigning His Commission by John Trumbull is on display in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. This painting depicts the scene on Dec. 23, 1783, in the Maryland State House in Annapolis when George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

This painting depicts Christopher Columbus and members of his crew on a beach in the West Indies, newly landed from his flagship Santa Maria on October 12, 1492.

The event shown in this painting is the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York on October 17, 1777.

The painting Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull is on display in the Rotunda of the US Capitol. The subject of this painting is the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War.

This chandelier has hung in the Small Senate Rotunda since 1965. Imported from Europe in 1903, it previously hung in a historic Baltimore theater and a Capitol Hill church. Originally smaller, it has been enlarged and modified over its history.

The bronze doors of the Senate wing are comparable to those in the House. Each valve consists of three panels, depicting events in the life of George Washington and Revolutionary War scenes, and an allegorical medallion.

This bronze chandelier provides light for the President's Room of the U.S. Capitol.

The richly patterned and colored Minton tile floors are one of the most striking features of the extensions of the United States Capitol. They were first installed in 1856, when Thomas U. Walter was engaged in the design and construction of vast additions to the Capitol (1851-1865). For the floors in his extensions, Walter chose encaustic tile for its beauty, durability and sophistication.

The Magna Carta display in the Crypt of the United States Capitol features a replica of the English document whose principles underlie much of the Constitution of the United States. The entire display was made in England by the artist Louis Osman and was presented to the United States as a gift from the British government to celebrate the bicentennial of American independence.

The bronze doors of the House wing are comparable to those in the Senate. Each valve consists of three panels and a medallion depicting significant events in American history.

This marble sculpture, created in 1819, is among the oldest works of art in the U.S. Capitol. It depicts Clio, the muse of History, holding a book in which she records events as they unfold.

The National Statuary Hall Collection is comprised of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history.

Painted in 1865 by Constantino Brumidi, the Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the U.S. Capitol Building's Rotunda depicts George Washington rising to the heavens in glory, flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory/Fame and surrounded by six groups of figures. The fresco is suspended 180 feet above the Rotunda floor and covers an area of 4,664 square feet.

The Columbus Doors, also called the Rogers Doors or Rotunda Doors, stand imposingly at the main entrance to the U.S. Capitol Building, almost 17 feet high and weighing 20,000 pounds. Designed by American sculptor Randolph Rogers, each scene depicting the life of Christopher Columbus is finely modeled. The doors were installed in 1863 and moved to their present location in 1961 following the extension of the East Front of the Capitol.

Howard Chandler Christy's painting depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Completed in 1940, the 20-by-30-foot framed oil-on-canvas scene is on display in the east grand stairway of the House wing.

Emanuel Leutze's mural celebrates the western expansion of the United States. A group of pioneers and their train of covered wagons are pictured at the continental divide, looking towards the sunset and the Pacific Ocean. The border depicts vignettes of exploration and frontier mythology. Beneath the central composition is a panoramic view of their destination"Golden Gate," in San Francisco Bay. The mural's title is a verse from the poem 'On the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America' by Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753).

Pocahontas saves Captain John Smith, one of the founders of Jamestown, Virginia, from being clubbed to death. Her father, Chief Powhatan, is seated at the left. This scene is the first showing English settlement. (1607)