Highlights

Artist
Medium
Oil on canvas
Year
1974

The expansion of the nation led to the growth of the Congress, and by 1850 the Capitol Building was much too small. Over a period of 17 years, the present House and Senate wings were added to the old building and the low central dome was replaced with a cast-iron dome better suited to the enlarged Capitol.

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. Cox first executed the murals in the eastern north-south corridor, starting work in 1973 and finishing in 1974. This 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.