The Art Collection

During his tenure as Architect of the Capitol, from 1923 to 1954, David Lynn built the second House and Senate office buildings (now named the Longworth and Dirksen buildings, respectively), the second Library of Congress building (now named the Adams building), and the Supreme Court building.

Tecumseh, a brilliant Indian chief, warrior and orator, is shown being fatally shot by Colonel Johnson at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. Tecumseh and his followers joined forces with the British to resist the encroachment of settlers on Indian territory. With Tecumseh's death, however, the momentum and power of the Indian confederacy was broken. (1813)

This painting depicts the moment on June 28, 1776, when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was presented to the Second Continental Congress.

This idealized depiction shows the principal authors of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, reading the document to colonists. (1776)

This statue of Dennis Chavez was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by New Mexico in 1966.

The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill set off the California gold rush of 1849. In this scene prospectors dig for gold with picks and shovels and pan for the precious metal. In the center three well-dressed men, possibly Sutter and two friends, carefully examine the contents of a prospector's pan. This was the last scene designed by Constantino Brumidi and painted by Filippo Costaggini. (1848)

William Henry Powell’s canvas shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery arriving at the Mississippi River.

Doric columns typically have a simple, rounded capital at the top; a heavy, fluted or smooth column shaft; and no base. Flutes are vertical, parallel channels that run the length of a column.