Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/650208
6 Compare Brumidi's iconography with Cox's plans for Corridor I: Fig. 6a. Brumidi, detail of cherubs over doorway of S-127, now the Senate Appropria- tions Committee Hearing Room (above) and Fig. 6b. Cox, sketch for acanthus figures for Corridor I (below) Fig. 7. Benjamin H. Latrobe, east vestibule of the U.S. Capitol, "corn columns" installed in 1809 ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL Walter in the 1850s....I've used Classical motifs through- out. In the ceiling I use cornucopias, lions, griffons, and fabulous figures that end in acanthus leaves. It is, I should say, a traditional scheme of Classical decoration to go with the architecture. 8 Cox's scheme also drew extensively on the iconography developed by Brumidi, who integrated a visual vocabulary derived from Classical and Renaissance sources with uniquely American symbols and figures (figs. 6a, 6b). is in turn referred to prece- dents set by architect Benjamin Henr y Latrobe, whose corn, tobacco, and magnolia leaf columns and other designs were among the first to combine Old and New World motifs in the service of an evolving national iconography (fig. 7). As the sec- ond Architect of the Capitol (succeeding William ornton), Latrobe was responsible for most of the initial plans—some built and others unrealized—for the building's Neoclassical interiors, so it should be no surprise to see echoes of his work in that of later artists and designers. As stated earlier and confirmed by Cox's statement, the interweaving of past and present, continuity and change, and unity and multiplicity, is a constant within the Capitol; this confluence of past and present is felt throughout the building and provides an overarching concept and context for its decorative program. THE CORRIDORS' PROGRESS A primary purpose of the murals known collectively as the Cox Corridors was to embellish the first floor hallways in the House wing, which had remained plainly painted since the completion of the Capitol extensions in the 1850s. ey were also intended to balance the Senate corridors decorated by Brumidi in the nine-