On the occasion of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, we admired the magnificent paintings that adorn the Capitol. But how many people know that the man behind them is Greek? Konstantinos Broumidis. He was called Michelangelo of the United States, but he died alone and forgotten. His contribution was recognized years later and on September 1, 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. A bust of him was erected inside the Capitol and one of the longest corridors of Washington's imposing building was named after him.
Alina Loi
He is the so-called "Michelangelo of Washington"! Greek, born in Italy, but originally from Filiatra.
Konstantinos Broumidis, the man who turned the walls of the Capitol into a huge canvas and spread his undeniable talent on it, is a rare artist, who was and continues to be praised even by US Presidents for his work.
But he also followed the fate of most great artists. He died poor and alone, almost forgotten.
Who was Konstantinos Broumidis
On July 26, 1805 in Rome, little Constantine was born. He is the child of Stavros Broumidis from Filiatra, Messinia and the Italian Anna Bianquini. Stavros Broumidis had been forced to leave Greece during the Orlov War (one of the uprisings of the enslaved Greeks in the Peloponnese, before the great Revolution of 1821, so named because it was designed by brothers Alexios and Theodore Orlov).
He settled in Italy and there met his future wife.
Young Konstantinos showed from a young age his tendency towards the arts. His parents immediately recognized his rare talent, and at the age of 13 enrolled him in the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Luke in Rome.
Konstantinos began to learn next to the best, attended art classes in many museums and worked with great sculptors such as Antonio Canova and Bertel Thorvaldsen.
What attracted him from the beginning was the mural and it was there that he threw the great weight of his education.
The reward of his efforts came relatively quickly when, together with other artists, he undertook the conservation and restoration of Raphael's frescoes in the Vatican! In addition, he undertook the painting decoration in various palaces while he was the one who painted the portrait of Pope Pius IX!
The future was bright in the Italian capital for Brumides, however, the unrest that broke out after the French invasion in 1849 sent him across the Atlantic. After a short passage through Mexico he ended up in the USA, where, in 1852, he took American citizenship.
In the USA he started working painting churches but soon his fame grew and so quickly came the proposal for his most important work.
The "apotheosis" of Washington and the imposing dome of the Capitol
When Brumides' work began to be recognized in the U.S. capital, he was invited to create small murals in some small rooms of the Capitol. He was paid $10 a day, at the time.
His first artistic impressions on the walls of the Capitol, however, left no room for misinterpretation. The reviews were impressive and Brumidis quickly "came out" of the small rooms and entered the long corridors and vast halls.
He was hired as an official painter of the U.S. government and thus took over the murals throughout the Capitol! In total he worked there for 25 years and covered with his frescoes a total area of 1,500 square meters!
Every great artist, however, has a work that is his stamp. The most recognizable. In the case of Brumides, this work is the painting that adorns the dome of the Capitol. It is this that gave him the title of "Michelangelo of the USA".
Obviously influenced by the romantic trends of his time but also by the Renaissance and painters such as Raphael and Michelangelo, Broumidis excelled with his colors and style.
For just over a year he painted on huge scaffolding erected under the dome.
When the project was completed, he left everyone with their mouths open. Such was the ecstasy it caused to those who first saw it that this work (for which Broumidis was paid $ 40,000) was called "the apotheosis of Washington"!
Death and the recognition that took a long time to come
Konstantinos Broumidis died in Washington on February 19, 1880, at the age of 74. Until a few 24 hours before he breathed his last, he continued to work and leave his magical touches on the walls of the Capitol.
Despite his devotion, however, Brumidis died virtually alone and poor. The only reference, at the time, to his death was made by Senator Daniel Wourhis, who in a speech on Capitol Hill, among other things, said of Brumides: "He died poor, not even having enough money to bury his weakened body, and yet what a rich legacy he left to present and future generations. For almost a quarter of a century he passed between these walls, from the basement to the dome, leaving creations of immortal beauty wherever his hand touched."
In fact, even the tomb of Broumidis was considered lost for many decades. No one had really dealt with the man who adorned with his art and talent, the "Temple of Democracy" in the USA.
It took until 1952, that is, more than 70 years to deal with Broumidis and bring to the surface the artist behind the great work.
And don't imagine how any politician did it. No. A tour guide to the Capitol building did it. Myrtle Murdoch sought and found all the information she needed to write a biography of the great Greek painter.
That's how his grave was discovered in Glenwood Cemetery in Washington. A simple tomb that would hardly be noticed.
Fortunately, at some point, long after his death, his contribution was recognized and a law passed by Congress and signed by then-U.S. President George W. Bush on September 1, 2008, posthumously awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal.
A bust of him was erected inside the Capitol, and one of the longest corridors of Washington's imposing building was named after him.
