Brumidi was determined to do the honor, with fresco as his chosen tech- nique.
Brumidi was born in Rome before Italy was a nation....
Constantino Brumidi
Italian painter (1805–1880)
Constantino Brumidi (26 July 1805 – 19 February 1880) was an Italian painter and a naturalized American citizen, best known and honored for his fresco work, Apotheosis of Washington, in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
Parentage and early life
Brumidi was born in Rome, his father a Greek from Filiatra in the province of Messinia, Greece, and his mother an Italian. He showed his talent for fresco painting at an early age and underwent training in the fields of sculpture and painting, under the tutelage of artists such as Bertel Thorvaldsen, Antonio Canova, and Baron Vincenzo Camuccini.[1] Brumidi painted in several Roman palaces, among them being that of Prince Torlonia.
Under Gregory XVI he worked for three years in the Vatican.
Immigration and following work
The occupation of Rome by French forces in 1849 apparently persuaded Brumidi to emigrate, having joined the short-lived risorgimentalRoman Rep