The Capitol Dome

15 BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ IN THE CAPITOL THE LOST GIFT I n 1783, the United States government passed a resolution accepting a portrait of Bernardo de Gálvez as a gi from Oliver Pollock to the American people. As commanded by Spain's King Carlos III, General Gálvez had harassed the British in the Gulf of Mexico in support of the American Revolution. e same resolution that accepted the portrait of Gálvez asserted that it should "be placed in the room in which Congress meets." George Washington and many others of the Revolutionary generation were well aware of Spain's help in the struggle of the United States to gain its independence from Great Britain; hanging the portrait was to be a public display of American appreciation for Spain's assistance. e government of the United States at the time was operating under the Articles of Confederation, and the current U.S. Capitol was years away from being built. Still, Congress had resolved to hang a portrait of Gálvez in "the room in which Congress meets." If Congress hon- ored this resolution, Gálvez's portrait should have been hung somewhere in the U.S. Capitol shortly aer its con- struction in the nineteenth century. But even though the U.S. government made this promise in 1783, it was not until 2014 that Congress finally kept its word. e issue was all but forgotten until Teresa Valcarce learned Fig. 1. e unveiling ceremony on 9 December 2014, attended by Sen. Tim Kaine ( far le), Spain's Ambassador Ramón Gil- Casares (second om le), and—preparing to cut the ribbon—Teresa Valcarce and Sen. Robert Menendez. THE CAPITOL DOME SEE NOTES FOR IMAGE CREDIT S.

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