The first House chamber in the Capitol was designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. After the House moved to its present chamber in 1857, this room was designated National Statuary Hall. John Quincy Adams (center, with raised hand) is shown speaking in the chamber; Speaker James K. Polk is seated under the canopy at left.
About the Cox Corridors Murals
The first floor of the U.S. Capitol's House wing is elaborately decorated with wall and ceiling murals by artist Allyn Cox. The eastern north-south corridor has been termed the Hall of Capitols because it features paintings of 16 different buildings that housed the Continental and United States Congresses from 1754 to 1865. Painted in the barrel vaults of the ceilings are eight historic events that occurred during the first 65 years of the Capitol's existence.