The 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree will arrive Friday, 11/22. Lighting Ceremony 12/3. Details.
A Confederate soldier and a Union soldier shake hands, marking the reunion of the country after the devastation of the Civil War. A cotton plant and a northern pine tree symbolize the South and the North, respectively. This is the first of Allyn Cox's three scenes. (1865)
About the Frieze of American History
The frieze in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol contains a painted panorama depicting significant events in American history. Thomas U. Walter's 1859 cross-section drawing of the new dome (constructed 1855-1863) shows a recessed belt atop the Rotunda walls with relief sculpture.
Eventually it was painted in true fresco, a difficult and exacting technique in which the pigments are applied directly onto wet plaster. As the plaster cures the colors become part of the wall. Consequently, each section of plaster must be painted the day it is laid. The frieze is painted in grisaille, a monochrome of whites and browns that resembles sculpture. It measures 8 feet 4 inches in height and approximately 300 feet in circumference. It starts 58 feet above the floor.