The Art Collection

Howard Chandler Christy's painting depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. Completed in 1940, the 20-by-30-foot framed oil-on-canvas scene is on display in the east grand stairway of the House wing.

Simon de Montfort (1200-1265) English statesman. Advocated representative government; established an early form of representative government in England.

Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780) English jurist. Professor of common law at Oxford; author of Commentaries on the Laws of England, which had considerable influence on the importation and adaptation of English common law in America.

The bust of Sir Winston Churchill is the third estate cast made from a life model that was created in the 1950s. The tributes carved on the pedestal are "Statesman, Honorary U.S. Citizen, Defender of Freedom."

On Tuesday, February 28, 2012, Congress unveiled a marker to commemorate the important role played by laborers, including enslaved African Americans, in building the United States Capitol. Their contributions were essential for the constructing what would later become known as the Temple of Liberty.

This chandelier has hung in the Small Senate Rotunda since 1965. Imported from Europe in 1903, it previously hung in a historic Baltimore theater and a Capitol Hill church. Originally smaller, it has been enlarged and modified over its history.

A typical prairie home is shown with a barbed wire fence, which represents the settlement of the great open plains.

Sojourner Truth's bust is the first sculpture to honor an African American woman in the United States Capitol.