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THE ALLYN COX MURAL PROJECT 1970-1993 C APITOL CORRIDORs and ceilings in the Senate wing had been ornately decorated with murals by Italian-American artist Constantino Brumidi in the nineteenth century, but the walls in the House wing corridors had been left plain. President Schwengel, believing that the artistic enhancement of these halls was long overdue, discussed the possibility of a mural project with several art experts, including John Walker, then director of the National Gallery of Art, and J. Carter Brown. They recommended Allyn Cox, a past president of the National Society of Mural Painters, who was at that time engaged in cleaning and restoring Brumidi's rotunda mural, "The Apotheosis of Washington." The Executive Committee agreed with the recommendation and on January 2, 1970 authorized Cox to prepare a project proposal. Allyn Cox was well-suited to the task of creating an historical mural program for the Capitol. Both of his parents, Kenyon and Louise King Cox, were artists. Among his father's accomplishments were murals at the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition and the Library of Congress. Allyn Cox won the Prix de Rome in 1916 and spent four years studying at the American Academy in Italy, as well as assisting the Red Cross during World War I. After returning to the United States, he became noted for his murals in public buildings and private homes. Cox had already developed an affinity for the Capitol. One of his most famous murals was George Washington Laying the Cornerstone of the Capitol for the George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, painted between WINTER 2013 Photographed with brushes and palette in hand, Allyn Cox posed while applying finishing touches on the scene of George Washington and L'Enfant conferring on the site location for the United States Capitol. 1948 and 1956. In 1953 he completed a 32-foot section of the Capitol Rotunda frieze that had been left unfinished since 1888. He later painted the portrait of Henry Clay on the wall of the Senate Reception Room as part of the five great senators series, and he added a lunette scene of the 1969 moon landing in the Brumidi corridor on the ground floor of the Senate wing. THE HALL OF CAPITOLS COX'S DESIGNS FOR MURALS on the north– south corridor leading to the House Restaurant were unveiled on December 17, 1970. The mural, referred to as the Cox prepared full-size "cartoons" of his designs prior to applying them to the walls and ceiling. These charcoal sketches provided the outline for painting the scenes on canvas affixed to the walls and ceiling. ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL Hall of Capitols, consisted of subjects chosen from the history of the Capitol. It included depictions of all the buildings that have housed Congress and its predecessors, portraits of all of the architects of the Capitol, and eight historic scenes from the building's history. The latter consisted of the burning of the Capitol in 1814, the THE CAPITOL DOME 27