|
Works by
Italian artists are prominently displayed both inside and outside the Capitol
building. The earliest Italian artists arrived in Washington in March 1806,
at the invitation of President Thomas Jefferson. A year earlier, on March
6 1805, Benjamin Latrobe, the Architect of the Capitol, had written a letter
to Jefferson's Italian friend Filippo Mazzei, whose opening paragraph read:
"Sir: By direction of the President of the United States I take
the liberty to apply to you for your assistance in procuring for us the
services of a good sculptor in the erection of the public buildings in
this city, especially of the Capitol." The following year, not
one but two Italian sculptors, Giovanni Andrei and Giuseppe Franzoni,
arrived in Washington with their families. Both came from the Granduchy
of Tuscany, ruled by the Austrian imperial family, but at that time (1799
- 1814) temporarily part of Napoleon's empire.
In the decades that
followed, many more Italian artists of considerable merit contributed to
the enrichment of the Capitol. Many of them who remained in the United
States are buried in Washington's Congressional Cemetery; some returned
to Italy, having fulfilled their contractual obligations. The American
painter, Rembrandt Peale, wrote in the newspaper "The Crayon"
that in 1830 he had been pleasantly surprised to meet in Florence the sculptor
Antonio Capellano and his family, and "...he informed me that
having made money enough in America he had bought 'un piccolo palazzo'
to enjoy the remainder of his days in his native city."
Particularly manifest
in the Capitol is the work of the Roman exile, fresco painter Costantino
Brumidi (1805 -1880) who made the cause of American liberty his own,
and worked in the building for twenty- five years (1855-1880).
It should be noted
that the Italian artists came to this country before the unification of
Italy (1870), from small states where liberties were severely restricted
by foreign rulers. Therefore they portrayed the protagonists and significant
episodes of the American struggle for independence and liberty not as outsiders
but with deeply felt affinity. Their artworks belong appropriately in the
Capitol, which remains an important monument to independence and liberty,
not only for Americans, but for people with similar sentiments no matter
their national origin.
Contributed by Franco Lancetti--
E-mail: lancetti@dgs.dgsys.com
For more information,
illustrated by photos, on the work of Italian artists consult the U.S.
Capitol Web Page:
|
