The Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony in Honor of Constantino Brumidi — PICTURES

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., speaks to guests, including the Italian ambassador, during a ceremony awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol artist Constantino Brumidi.  (Chet Susslin)

The fresco in the hearing room for the House Appropriations Committee was Brumidi's first painting and trial run for his later work in the Capitol.  (Chet Susslin)

"The Signing of the First Treaty of Peace With Great Britain" in the Brumidi Corridor at the Capitol.  (Chet Susslin)

"The Calling of Cincinnatus From the Plow" is on display at the ceremony. The piece is often displayed in the office of House Speaker John Boehner, who is a native of Cincinnati.  (Chet Susslin)

Brumidi's "The Apotheosis of Washington" adorns the dome of the Capitol.  (Chet Susslin)

Tourists gaze at "The Apotheosis of Washington" on the ceiling of the Capitol dome.  (C)

A freize depicting events in American History is at the base of the Capitol dome. This panel is called "Burial of DeSoto."  (Chet Susslin)

A bald eagle holds a banner with the phrase "E Pluribus Unum" in a painting on one of the walls in the Brumidi Corridors on the Senate side of the Capitol.   (Chet Susslin)

The Senate Appropriations Committee hearing room was decorated by Brumidi in the style of ancient Pompeii.  (Chet Susslin)

An archway in the Brumidi Corridors.  (Chet Susslin)

Constantino Brumidi's fresco portrait of Benjamin Franklin in the Brumidi Corridors. (Chet Susslin)

A detail of two birds in the Brumidi Corridors.  (Chet Susslin)

One of the wall paintings in the Brumidi Corridors depicts John Hancock.  (Chet Susslin)

A bust of Constantino Brumidi sits in the Brumidi Corridors.  (Chet Susslin)

The Congressional Gold Medal awared posthumously to Constantino Brumidi.  (Chet Susslin)