Room S-127, occupied by the Senate Committee on Appropriations since 1912, was decorated in 1856-1858 with murals in the pompeiian style designed by Constantino Brumidi. The city of Pompeii in Italy, buried by volcanic ash in the first century A.D., was first excavated in the early eighteenth century, and the style of painting uncovered there became popular in the mid-nineteenth century. The murals of Pompeii, intended to give a sense of space to interior rooms without windows, include motifs such as illusionistic architecture, floating figures, and cherubs on a black background, as seen in S-127. Brumidi created a color sketch to guide the decoration of the room, and many artists worked under him on the painting. Only one of the lunettes in the upper part of the wall was completed. When the room was first occupied, some people were shocked to see the elaborate and ornate pompeiian-style painting in the Capitol.
The themes of the murals relate to the Naval Affairs Committee, which was the room's first occupant. Sea gods, such as Neptune and Venus, are portrayed on the ceiling. The floating maidens in the panels are based on Roman depictions of maenads, or followers of Dionysus. Each maiden wears a different dress and carries objects related to the sea or navigation, such as pearls or an astrolabe.
Over the years, the murals on the ceilings and walls have been covered with cabinets, cut into for vents and outlets, repaired, and painted over and varnished, most recently in 1978. The areas that have undergone the greatest change from the original intent are the rectangular fields on which the nine floating maidens were painted: originally a brilliant light blue, they were overpainted in dark green.
The original blue, seen in one half of Brumidi's sketch, was revealed when the overmantel mirror was removed for conservation and in small cleaning tests. A conservation study, which included microscopic analysis of paint samples, assessed conditions of the various sections of the mural decoration and recommended priorities for treatment. A pilot project included removal of overpaint from one of the panels, to determine whether it would be possible to uncover the original, and further testing and study.
The goal of the project undertaken in the summer of 2004 was to conserve the nine panels with maiden figures and three related panels on the east wall, restoring the original blue fields surrounding the figures. The first step was to consolidate the plaster to make it sound. The conservators found that the most effective method was to carefully remove the layers of overpaint and yellowed varnish with scalpels; solvents were also needed in some areas.
Fortunately, all of the beautiful maidens painted by Brumidi were essentially intact, as were the majority of the blue fields. Two of the panels had large areas of loss and replastering, and some of the original cornucopias with flowers were lost. The conservators were required to skillfully inpaint the missing areas to match the original. In accordance with conservation ethics, reversible materials were used and the work was documented in detail, so that it will be clear to future generations what work is original. Areas that were missing and had to be reconstructed are indicated by fine lines that are not detectable from a distance.
Brumidi's beautiful and delicate details and colors, which had long been obscured by yellowed varnish and retouching, are now again breathtaking. Especially notable are the colors of the changeable taffeta dresses; the subtlety of the details, such as the fishing line carried by one of the figures; and the variety of the blossoms in the cornucopia below.
For further information, see Barbara Wolanin, Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1998).
