The Art Collection

AOC employees are responsible for the care and preservation of over 300 works of art, architectural elements and landscape features. Browse our incredible collection below or learn more about our artists and featured collections.

Christopher Columbus Relief Sculpture

Above four of the large Rotunda paintings in the U.S.

Civil War Troops Quartered in the Capitol Plaque

This plaque identifies specific troops quartered in the United States Capitol during the 1800s.

Colonization of New England

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

U.S. Capitol Grounds Commemorative Tree Ulmus americana (American Elm) To Honor the People of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sponsored by...

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Tree

Text of the Plaque

U.S. Capitol Grounds
Commemorative Tree

Ulmus americana
(American Elm)

Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians, 1773, Relief Sculpture

Above each of the four Rotunda doors in the U.S.

Cornerstone Centennial Plaque

Cortez and Montezuma at Mexican Temple

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)

Court of Neptune

Passersby enjoy the play of the jets of water on the majestic, bearded and muscular king of the sea; his sons the tritons blowing conches; the frolicking, horseback-riding Nereids (sea nymphs); and

Cox Corridors Murals

Designed by renowned artist Allyn Cox (1896-1982), three corridors on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol's House wing are elaborately decorated with wall and ceiling murals that include historical scenes, portraits and maps related to the development and growth of the United States.

Crawford W. Long

This statue of Crawford W. Long was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Georgia in 1926.

Daniel Webster

This statue of Daniel Webster was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by New Hampshire in 1894.

Death of Tecumseh

Tecumseh, a brilliant Indian chief, warrior and orator, is shown being fatally shot by Colonel Johnson at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. Tecumseh and his followers joined forces with the British to resist the encroachment of settlers on Indian territory. With Tecumseh's death, however, the momentum and power of the Indian confederacy was broken. (1813)

Declaration of Independence

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.

Declaration of Independence

This idealized depiction shows the principal authors of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, reading the document to colonists. (1776)

Declaration of Independence Plaque

Dennis Chavez

This statue of Dennis Chavez was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by New Mexico in 1966.

Discovery of Gold in California

The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill set off the California gold rush of 1849. In this scene prospectors dig for gold with picks and shovels and pan for the precious metal. In the center three well-dressed men, possibly Sutter and two friends, carefully examine the contents of a prospector's pan. This was the last scene designed by Constantino Brumidi and painted by Filippo Costaggini. (1848)

Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto

William Henry Powell’s canvas shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery arriving at the Mississippi River.