Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1180196
12 THE CAPITOL DOME European palaces from Madrid to Oslo. 19 We also know from Meigs's journal that he had con- sidered not only Brumidi's proposal for the decoration of S-127 (see front cover), but another proposal from artist James Leslie (fig. 14). 20 A comparison of both propos- als, which are fortunately still extant as watercolors, may demonstrate Meigs's discerning eye and dedication to a true Pompeian style and narrative scheme: while Leslie did maintain Pompeian tripartite division of the walls into a dado at the bottom, main central panel, and lunette at the top (just below the ceiling), his proposal utilizes a color scheme, style, figures, and narrative that are heavily influenced by the eighteenth-century Rococo style and far from the direct adoptions and adaptations employed by Brumidi. Meigs himself noted in his diary that Leslie's paintings "are more decoration," and indeed Meigs refers to Leslie along with another artist as "decorators." 21 This evidence, both textual and artistic, seems to indicate that Meigs was an educated patron and was determined to decorate at least this room in the true Pompeian style— and that he had found in Constantino Brumidi an Ital- ian-trained and experienced painter, capable of bringing Pompeii to the Potomac. CONCLUSION The recent study of S-127 offers important new insights into the design, execution, and messages of an early mural cycle in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol. We now know more about Brumidi's process of design through the identification of the exact publication he used as a model for the layout of the walls, specific figures, and individual motifs throughout the room. We under- stand the importance of the collection of the Library of Congress for both artist and patron working to complete the Capitol in the mid-nineteenth century. In addition, we have a specific example of the learned and discern- ing nature of Meigs as a patron of art. We also witness the use of art to shape the narrative and identity of early America: in order to "compete" on the world (European) stage, the young nation is depicted as both deriving and asserting her (naval) power and stature from that of the Graeco-Roman world. Still, there is more work to do to further our under- standing of this mural cycle's motifs, narrative, and con- temporary reception. In terms of iconography and narra- tive, the personification of America in Native American Fig. 14. James Leslie, proposal for S-127, 1856?, watercolor