H.Res. 101 — Introduced in House

IV 113th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 101 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 5, 2013 Ms. Norton submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp in 2015 to honor Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol, and to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his completion of The Apotheosis of Washington in the eye of the dome of the Capitol, and for other purposes. Whereas on July 1, 2008, President George W. Bush signed an Act of Congress authorizing the Congressional Gold Medal be posthumously awarded to Constantino Brumidi for his work in the Capitol over 25 years; Whereas the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor of civilian achievement that the Congress bestows, and this makes Constantino Brumidi worthy of a commemorative stamp; Whereas it has been estimated that approximately 2,000,000 people saw Constantino Brumidi’s most famous work of art, The Apotheosis of Washington, in the Rotunda of the Capitol last year; Whereas on July 11, 2012, the Congressional Gold Medal was presented in the Capitol, in a ceremony attended by the House and Senate leadership and many Members of Congress; Whereas on July 26, 1805, Constantino Brumidi was born in Rome, Italy, of an Italian mother and a Greek father who inspired him with a love of liberty; Whereas Constantino Brumidi’s Greek ancestry stirred his passion for liberty and citizenship, and his Italian heritage provided the art styles of the Renaissance and the Baroque periods which influenced the artwork of the United States Capitol; Whereas Constantino Brumidi became a citizen of the United States as soon as he was able, embracing its history, values, and ideals; Whereas in 1865, at the end of the Civil War, Constantino Brumidi completed in just 11 months his masterpiece, The Apotheosis of Washington, in the eye of the Capitol dome; Whereas in 1871, Constantino Brumidi created the first tribute to an African-American in the Capitol when he placed the figure of Crispus Attucks at the center of his fresco of the Boston Massacre; Whereas in 1878, Constantino Brumidi, at the age of 72 and in poor health, began work on the Rotunda frieze, which chronicles the history of America; Whereas on February 19, 1880, Constantino Brumidi died at the age of 74, four-and-a-half months after slipping and nearly falling from a scaffold while working on the Rotunda frieze; Whereas Constantino Brumidi, proud of his artistic accomplishments and devoted to his adopted country, said, My one ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty; Whereas Constantino Brumidi’s life and work exemplify the lives of millions of immigrants who came to pursue the American dream; Whereas the United States Postal Service has yet to issue a stamp to honor the memory of Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol; and Whereas issuing a postage stamp to honor the memory of Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol, is fitting and proper: Now, therefore, be it That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that— (1) the United States Postal Service should issue a commemorative postage stamp to honor Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol; (2) the stamp should be issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Constantino Brumidi’s completion of The Apotheosis of Washington; and (3) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be so issued.