The Art Collection

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)

The vice president of the United States presides over the United States Senate, and the Senate honors these individuals in a collection of marble busts displayed in the U.S. Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol is responsible for working with the subject to select a sculptor, contracting with the artists with the approval of the Senate, monitoring and approving the work, and designing and procuring the pedestal.

This statue of Caesar Rodney was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Delaware in 1934.

Along the Erie Canal at Lockport, New York, horses are shown pulling the barges that have just gone through the locks.

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)

The marble Car of History by Carlo Franzoni (1789-1819) is located above the north door to National Statuary Hall (the Old Hall of the House of Representatives) in the United States Capitol.

The map shows the central section of the continent to illustrate the effect of the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the opening of the West.